


Salty then Sweet

by AutumnSwitch



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alpha Jamal, Alpha Tilde, Alpha!Eggsy, Alpha!Percival, Alpha/Alpha, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Bathroom Sex, Claiming Bites, Dean Baker's temper, Established Gazelle/Charlie Hesketh, Established Harry Hart/Percival, Established Tilde/Jamal, Fighter!Eggsy, Fluff, Frottage, M/M, Mating Bites, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mild Angst, Mpreg, Omega Roxy, Omega!Merlin, One Night Stand (turns into more), Oral Sex, Pregnant Merlin, Pregnant Roxy, Pregnant Sex, Rimming, Semi-Public Sex, Smut, Surrogacy, Surrogate Roxy, Unplanned Pregnancy, alpha!Harry, baker!merlin, sex then love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 18:33:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15588138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnSwitch/pseuds/AutumnSwitch
Summary: Hot sex with a delicious alpha leaves Merlin unexpectedly pregnant.  But how is he going to find his one-night-stand in all of London?When EggsyOverEasy places an online order at Kingsman Bakery, he'll find the salted caramel cheesecake comes with more surprises than one angry baker.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [Kim](https://youtu.be/FxjGauWtvp8) \-- a baker who was very angry and confused by Ginger's cryptic cheesecake order. This popped into my head after watching her rant and I couldn't help but write this story.
> 
> (link above redirects to YouTube)
> 
> I truly hope you enjoy the story.

**~~*~~*~~**

Shouting in the kitchen wasn’t usually anything that lifted Harry’s head from his work. But when Harry heard Merlin’s voice rising above all the racket, he rushed out of his office in a flash.

Merlin stormed about the kitchen island, red-faced. The way he was waving his arms about made him look even more lanky than he was. Harry narrowed his eyes at Percival who was following their dear friend with a small camera in hand. Filming the rant, no doubt. 

Harry strained to keep up with Merlin’s raving. Before butting in it was prudent to have some idea what one was getting into, but Merlin was making very little sense. All his yelling about cheesecake and eggs was enough to make Harry’s good eye twitch.

“Pick up yer feckin’ cheesecake Eggsy!” Merlin shouted as he paced the length of the counter again. He stopped at the laptop near the fridge and gestured to the screen. “Yer not in town? Don’ have a car?” 

Merlin huffed. “I can drive to the country. I can drive yer cake all the way to goddamn Edinburg, Eggsy. Gives me a chance to visit me Ma even.”

Tired of being on the outs, Harry fell into step behind Percival. “What's going on?’

Percival angled his head to Harry, but kept his eyes on his viewfinder. “Merlin is going off!” he said in an amused whisper. “Wanker had him make cake and now thinks he can give him a run around.”

Harry rubbed at his eyes, careful of the glass he was still getting used to.

Merlin slammed his computer shut and threw up his hands. “That's it. That's all I have. Send it to that tosser. I dinnae have time for this shite.”

Percival filmed Merlin until he was out of sight and stomping up the stairs to the second floor of their shared home. 

Across the kitchen, Harry was on his phone reviewing the messages that had gone back and forth between Kingsman Cakes and their ‘wanker’ patron.

He looked up from his phone, confused. “This EggsyOverEasy fellow didn't even request a cake.”

Percival pulled a face, hiding something and not doing a very good job of it. “Hmm. Not outright. But there were implications…”

Harry stood up straighter, giving a look his husband knew meant he smelled deceit. 

Percival opened his eyes wide in feigned upset. “You doubt my intentions?”

Harry walked to him with a gentleman’s swagger. “You are not the innocent party in this. Of that, I'm sure.” Harry said, but he took Percival’s face in his hands and kissed the pout off his lips.

A door slammed upstairs; Harry’s eyes snapped toward the sound. “I’m going to have a word with him.”

“Don’t bother,” Percival suggested, capturing Harry’s mouth for another kiss. “It’s the hormones.”

“Oh, stop with this manopause bullshit.” Harry pushed at his husband’s cheek playfully as he stepped back. “He’s 45, still got a decade or two before we have to deal with tha--” 

Another slam from upstairs cut Harry off. 

“Pipe down!” Harry hollered, tipping his head back for volume. If only he had a broom handy, he’d rap it against the ceiling. “Haven’t seen him tantrum since we were kids. Shite way to run a business.”

Percival was looking through the video, snickering.

“You best not publish that. When his mood passes, he’ll be embarrassed by his behavior. Then, I’ll give him a piece of my mind.”

Percival hit rewind and play, again. “Well, don’t hold your breath.”

Harry placed his hand over the camera’s screen, shielding it from Percival’s view. “Beg pardon?”

“Just saying, mood may last.”

“And why would it last?” Harry crossed his arms over his chest, ready for the day’s next string of nonsense.

“Hormones, y’know. They take a while to even out. _Could be months._ ”

“Oh, for the love of--” Harry rolled his good eye and the socket around the glass eye stung. “The two of you will be the death of me.”

“Three,” Percival corrected.

“Yes, yes. But _EggsOverEasy_ will be forgotten when Merlin’s pissed at the next customer.”

Percival bit back a laugh.

“If you don’t tell me what you’re chirping about, I’ll tear it out of you.” Harry glowered and Percival pinked.

“I do like the way you threaten, darling.” Percival stepped into Harry’s space. “And the way you follow through.” He brushed his hips against his husband’s thigh to make his point clear.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Must be something in the air, found reason for a bit of happy. This Eggsy character, Merlin’s birthday at Sparks...”

“Sparks?” Harry swiped some frosting that had spilled onto the counter and let Percival suck it from his finger. “That was over a month ago.”

“But I only found tests this morning.”

“What the hell are you on about?”

Percival reached into his back pocket and brought out a white, plastic stick. He held it up with a smirk.

Harry scowled. “That’s the piss end in your hand, you prat.”

Percival shrugged, his grin growing wider.

“And you brought it in the bloody kitchen?”

Percival shrugged again, on the brink of laughter.

“That’s fucking unsanitary, sweetheart.”

Percival nodded. “I’m absolutely disgusting, aren’t I?” He was just south of giddy, but it wouldn’t be held back much longer.

Harry blinked. He grabbed the test from Percival. Stared. And blinked again. The room was brimming with joy, warmth, and promise. Harry’s heart felt impossibly full.

“We’re pregnant?” he asked, astonished. “You?”

Percival’s mirth was replaced with incredulity. “Yes, Harry. By a freak miracle of science, I have grown a womb and birth canal. You are the first alpha in history to impregnate another alpha. Congratulations to you and your magic, alpha, super sperm.”

Harry’s face fell. “Facetious is a terrible look on you.”

“Oh, sarcasm you can hear. But me telling you Merlin’s up the duff with a guy he shagged at the club has flown right over your head.”

Harry squeaked. “He’s 45!”

“Not a minute ago you said he was too young for menopause.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean… That wanker didn’t use protection? With some _rando_ at Sparks?” Harry was near shouting.

Percival’s grin returned. “Not so random anymore. That bloke he couldn’t keep his hands off of found the bakery site.”

“What, the one teasing him with these cryptic messages? What the hell does this even mean?” Harry put his phone between them and read from the screen in a voice he thought well-suited for the arsehole. “ _‘Salted caramel, Merlin. Gotta make bourbon spiked vanilla!’_ And _’Yuuummm!’_ ” 

Harry glared at the user’s avatar, though the little girl in a crown of daisies was admittedly adorable. “Merlin told him it was ready for pick up two days ago and Eggsy tells him he’s not home?”

“I think him finding us is pure coincidence. They’d introduced themselves as John and Gary, remember?”

Harry thought back to the celebration, the drinks, the hangover. “I remember few details of that night.”

“Yes. Mmm.” Percival licked his lips. “Yet I have so many delicious memories of you and the dancefloor and the bathroom.”

Percival’s hands smoothed up Harry’s sides. He pulled his husband close until they were pressed together chest to thigh. “And them in the stall next to us.” 

“Don’t distract me,” Harry said, but he didn’t push away.

“I did some internet stalking,” Percival whispered into Harry’s ear. 

“Of course you did.” Harry brought his hand up to coax Percival’s mouth to his neck.

“Found this guy seems rather decent.” His kisses were soft, just a press of lips against the delicate skin of Harry’s throat.

Harry’s breath hitched as Percival’s tongue dipped into the hollow of his collarbone. “Oh?”

“Maybe I don’t send the video.” Percival nipped at Harry’s shoulder, not quite at his claim. “Maybe I do.” His mouth moved a hair’s breadth and he laved at it.

Harry shuddered. “Maybe.”

“Could set them up for talks. For a date?”

“Mhmm.” Harry was floating through the sensations of Percival’s tongue on his scent gland. He would have agreed to anything under the hands of his alpha. He trusted him implicitly, knowing Percival only had the good of their pack in mind.

**~~*~~*~~**

In the office off his bedroom, Merlin seethed. Emotions overwhelmed him, helped none by the pregnancy making everything more real, more serious, more pressing. Just… more.

He didn’t want to believe he could let something like this happen. He was scared. He was overjoyed. The joy made him even more afraid -- that he would be found lacking as a father, that something would go wrong.

Merlin sat at his computer wondering how in the bloody hell he was going to track down the lad from the club and give him the news. He deserved to know -- needed to -- even if he’d decide not to take part in their lives. 

They’d had fun that night; they’d shared a moment. But then it was over and they parted without exchanging numbers, without plans for _more_. Certainly not the kind of _more_ that included a child.

*** * * * ***

_The music was a smooth bump and thump that had Merlin’s body moving of its own accord. He swayed with Harry, Percival, and the crowd. All hips and shoulders, sweat and breath._

_Lights flashed through the fog and Merlin closed his eyes to let the beat carry him away._

_He smelled a new alpha come impossibly close before he saw them. The alpha’s smell held notes of citrus and berry. Merlin found himself dreaming up a new recipe for cobbler, hoping the alpha wasn’t wearing cologne. Though why should he have cared; it was only a dance._

_Merlin reached out in his blind bump and grind, pulling the alpha flush and draping his hands over their shoulders. Perfect height. Merlin dropped his head to the crook of his partner’s neck and inhaled. Perfect scent. He licked sweat off the alpha’s pulse point and bit the lobe of their ear._

_They moved together in sync, more in tuned with each other’s rhythm than the music. Their hands roved each other’s bodies as they rut against each other’s thighs._

_“Do you want to go somewhere?” Merlin asked, rucking up the alpha’s shirt and dragging his nails down their back._

_The alpha gave a purr that could have been a growl and grabbed Merlin tightly at the waist. The arousal pressed between them grew._

_Merlin felt slick leak onto his pants and moaned._

_“Come with me,” the alpha said, his voice low at Merlin’s ear._

_“With you inside me,” was Merlin’s response._

_The alpha growled in earnest this time, parting a path through the crowd as he led Merlin to the back of the club. He pushed their way past the line for the loo and ducked into an empty stall. Neither of them bothered locking the door, too caught up in the taste of each other’s tongues._

_The heavy breaths and moans Merlin drew out of his partner drowned out the commotion of the busy bathroom. He tugged at the alpha’s trousers and bucked his hips at the feel of the lad’s hands at his own belt._

_“Fuck me,” Merlin gasped when their mouths parted for air._

_“Bloody well tryin’, gov.” The alpha looked up at him with a smile and Merlin’s breath caught in his throat._

_The man was beautiful. Bright blue eyes and a handsome face. Merlin’s hands felt he was well fit, but the look of him in a polo with his trousers around his thighs was--_

_“Gorgeous,” Merlin said aloud and nearly swooned at the sight of the alpha’s modest blush._

_The alpha gave a small laugh as he unbuttoned Merlin’s pants and sank to his knees. “Not bad yourself,” he answered with an arch to his brow._

_He took Merlin’s red, throbbing dick in hand and wrapped his lips around it without preamble. The wet heat of the alpha’s mouth soothed Merlin’s ache and increased his desperation all at once._

_“Alpha,” Merlin’s head knocked back at the barrier between stalls. His partner pulled back and sucked his way down to Merlin’s base._

_“M-mm.” With a mouth full of cock, the man’s words were incomprehensible._

_“Wha--?”_

_The alpha popped off Merlin’s dick; a line of spit trailed from it to his glistening lips. “Gary,” he said, his eyes intense as they gazed into Merlin’s. “I want you calling my name when you come.” His voice was hoarse after taking Merlin into his throat only a few times._

_Merlin nodded, punch-drunk as the alpha stroked his cock and brought his other hand between Merlin’s thighs. “Gary,” he whispered._

_Eggsy grinned and rolled Merlin’s balls in his palm. “You’ll be shouting when I’m done.” He licked precum from Merlin’s slit like a cat lapping up milk. With a slap to Merlin’s thigh, just hard enough to leave it pink, he said, “Turn around,” and Merlin happily complied._

_Eggsy’s hands spread Merlin’s arse and he leaned in. After just a taste of the slick that had leaked onto Merlin’s cheeks, Eggsy swore. “Fuck, mate.”_

_“John.”_

_Eggsy slapped Merlin’s arse and grabbed the reddened skin for a soothing knead. “John,” he growled. “John, you’re going to come on my fucking tongue before you come on my knot.”_

_Merlin arched his back. His arse searched for Eggsy’s filthy mouth, desperate for its tongue. Merlin’s forehead hit the stall as he nodded greedily at Eggsy’s plans for him._

_Eggsy kneaded Merlin’s arse again before his tongue drew a lazy circle around the tight bud of Merlin’s hole. Slick dripped onto his tongue and Eggsy moaned at the hint of vanilla bourbon._

_The way Eggsy’s tongue thrusted and the immediacy with which he pushed in the first finger had Merlin worried it would be rough. But Eggsy didn’t add another. It seemed the one was enough for Eggsy to suckle and lick to his heart’s content._

_He mumbled nonsense against Merlin’s arse, drawing shivers of pleasure up Merlin’s spine and coils of desire to his core. Eggsy’s other hand continued its massage at Merlin’s cheek, occasionally digging in fingertips. The bite of nails brought Merlin to the edge of pain which only added to his delight._

_Eggsy’s tongue continued to dip in and out as the hand left his arse, snuck between his legs and tugged on his neglected cock._

_Merlin shuddered and gasped at the unexpected contact. He bucked his hips into the too loose circle of Eggsy’s fist and back against the sloppy, wet, heat of Eggsy’s mouth._

_Gary’s name rose from his throat as his spend coated the graffiti covered wall._

_“Fucking hell, babe,” Eggsy groaned. He dragged his hands up Merlin’s sides, from the trousers in a heap at his ankles up to the hair under his arms. “You’re delicious.”_

_Eggsy nipped at Merlin’s scent gland and Merlin sucked in a sharp breath._

_Eggsy pet the area with his rough, work-worn fingers next. Assuring Merlin there was nothing to worry about, he whispered sincerely, “Never without permission, John.”_

_He kissed Merlin’s neck so tenderly, Merlin forgot the man was a stranger._

*** * * * ***

In the office, Merlin’s hand went to his abdomen. He could hardly believe the figure he’d been so vigilant to keep up, despite whipping up sweets at his own shop for a decade, would grow round with child.

The corners of his mouth turned up in a cautious smile as he smoothed a slow circle over his belly.

The pregnancy was unexpected, unplanned, but Merlin knew exactly how it happened.

*** * * * ***

_Eggsy trailed kisses across the back of Merlin’s neck along his other shoulder._

_The air around them reeked of sex and the scents unique to them. The latter heightened by their lust._

_Merlin felt the girth of Eggsy’s arousal pressing up along the length of his arse. Supporting himself with one arm against the stall, Merlin reached back for Eggsy’s hip and pulled him closer._

_“Are ya sure, gov?”_

_Merlin moved against Eggsy’s dick. “Condom in my sock.”_

_The alpha made an amused sound as he licked and nipped his way down Merlin’s back._

_“Guess it better than havin’ someone riflin’ through your wallet, innit?”_

_“Precisely why I dinnae bring it in.”_

_Eggsy lifted the foil packet easily, his fingers barely noticed even though Merlin was waiting for the touch._

_Merlin looked over his shoulder, eager for the lad to get to the next._

_Eggsy pinched Merlin’s arse as he brought himself back to his feet, but Merlin didn’t avert his eyes. Eggsy’s cock hung heavy and thick between his legs, dark with the swell of unresolved desire._

_“Have ye no touched yourself?”_

_Eggsy gave a sly wink and lifted its heft in his hand. “Only flesh I want milking this cock is your tight, sweet arse.”_

_Eggsy laid his length along the crest of Merlin’s arse and let precum dribble into the dimples at the base of Merlin’s spine. “That alright with you, J--”_

_“Don’t fucking ask, just put it in me,” Merlin begged. His cheeks flushed at the whine that escaped._

_Before he could hide his face, Eggsy was turning him in his arms and boxing Merlin against the wall._

_Merlin held his mouth in a line as he took in the shine of the alpha’s blue eyes again. They held an intensity Merlin didn’t think he’d seen in anyone before._

_Eggsy stared for a moment before leaning in for a kiss._

_It wasn’t the sloppy, open-mouthed war of tongues Merlin expected. What Merlin got instead started delicately. Eggsy’s lips were a caress against his own, experimenting with pressure and position until his eyes fluttered closed._

_Merlin brought his hand up to Eggsy’s hair and pulled him in harder. He licked until Eggsy parted his lips and he tasted his own slick along the edges of Eggsy’s mouth._

_Eggsy’s cock was sticky and wet between them; Merlin reached for it and had his hand slapped away._

_“Swear down, I’m fit to burst, gov,” Eggsy hissed, holding Merlin’s lower lip between his teeth._

_Merlin tightened his fists in Eggsy’s hair and kissed him hard until they were panting._

_“Fuck me, lad. Like ye mean it.” He didn’t wait for Eggsy to respond. Merlin had his face toward the wall and legs spread in the time it took for Eggsy’s jaw to drop._

_Merlin listened for the tear of foil and snap of latex over skin._

_Then, anxiety and anticipation peaked._

_Eggsy reached for Merlin, one hand on his arse, the other caressing the most sensitive part of the omega’s shoulder. Of course he could sense the changes in Merlin’s scent. Merlin could sense the hesitation on the alpha as well._

_“Don’t stop on my account,” Merlin assured Eggsy this was what he wanted._

_Eggsy worked the omega open, surprised by the readiness of his hole. “Got a heat coming on?”_

_Merlin shook his head, dizzy with the feeling of three fingers in his arse and Eggsy pawing at his scent gland. “Just come off one. Been a week.”_

_Still, Eggsy stretched Merlin carefully until he was sure the omega could take his knot without pain._

_Merlin moaned, writhing on Eggsy’s hand and whimpering when it was gone._

_Eggsy dragged the thick head of his cock along Merlin’s arse as a warning, giving him time to change his mind._

_As Eggsy passed over Merlin’s hole, Merlin gasped, “Gary.”_

_Eggsy pressed in. It was tight, even with preparation and the generous amount of slick Merlin was producing. Eggsy went slowly, rubbed Merlin’s shoulder and back as he sank himself deeper._

_“Ye won’t break me,” Merlin said breathlessly, then let out a low groan as his rim caught the head of Eggsy’s cock._

_As he drew himself in to the hilt, Eggsy laid his forehead on Merlin’s back. He took heaving breaths; Merlin’s scent had his head swimming and his mouth watering._

_Drunk on the omega’s scent and surrounded by his moist heat, Eggsy bit down on his own tongue to keep from begging claim._

_“Dinnae ask ye to stop.” Merlin tried pushing back onto the fullness of Eggsy’s cock in him but found he was locked in place._

_Eggsy’s bruising grip tightened on Merlin’s hips. “Don’t move.”_

_Merlin froze at the urgency in Eggsy’s command. “Are ye--”_

_Eggsy’s breath was hot on Merlin’s back. His voice trembled with confession. “Ya feel so fuckin’ good, John. Gimme a minute, yeah?”_

_Merlin waited, more patiently than he expected he could. Despite circumstance and location, for this alpha Merlin didn’t want to rush. And when Eggsy started up again, it was worth the delay._

_Eggsy’s thrusts reminded Merlin of how he moved on the dancefloor. Slow and rhythmic, their bodies rocked to a beat they alone shared._

_“I won’t last,” Eggsy admitted as his toes began to curl. “Tell me when I’m there.”_

_At first, Merlin was confused. Then, Eggsy changed his angle, grazed his prostate, and left Merlin seeing stars._

_“There!” Merlin shouted when he meant to whisper. “You’re there,” he said again at a more appropriate volume._

_Once Eggsy found the spot, he worked it mercilessly until Merlin was coming for a second time._

_As the alpha had promised, Merlin was calling out his name like a hymn, vowels drawn out as he bounced on the pulsating cock still inside him._

_Eggsy came quieter, with “John” on his lips like a cry for help. His nails dug into Merlin’s hips as if holding onto the omega was the only thing keeping him on his feet._

_Eggsy’s head fell to rest on Merlin’s back once again, finding comfort between Merlin’s shoulder blades. Merlin reached behind to stroke the alpha’s arm, wishing they were face to face so he could hold him._

_As they waited for Eggsy's knot to come down, Merlin’s heart ached with want._

*** * * * ***

Merlin remembered those final moments of connection with a twinge in his chest.

*** * * * ***

_”Bollocks,” Eggsy swore._

_Merlin was cleaning himself up best he could in a cramped dance hall stall. But at the rise in Eggsy’s anxiety, he pulled up his pants and trousers without care of what mess remained._

_“What is it?”_

_Eggsy held out his hand. In it was the condom, tied off but leaking from some invisible lesion._

_“Bollocks,” Merlin agreed._

_Eggsy looked up, apology written all over his face. “I get tested for work. And I always use protection…” His mouth twisted into a frown at the mess in his palm. “I hadn’t been with anyone since my last test. I’m clean. You said your heat cleared through?”_

_Merlin took the useless prophylactic and tossed it with a wad of tissue into the bin._

_“Aye. Truthfully, my age we're lucky to be fertile during heat.” As for sexually transmitted diseases, Merlin grew nervous. “My, uh, friend makes us get tested. Well, makes me… after James…”_

_Merlin cleared his throat, unsure why he was about to get into the sad sack story of his late partner and the string of fast fucks that followed until Merlin learned to feel something other than numb._

_“I was clean, last test. But there may have been one or two since--”_

_Eggsy swallowed hard._

_Merlin blanched. “I am so sorry.”_

_“What’s done is done.” Eggsy shrugged, but his scent was high with disillusionment. “Had a bit of fun, didn’ we?”_

_Merlin glanced down at the line of Eggsy’s limp, yet still impressive cock, through his pants. “More than a bit, I’d say.”_

_They shared the crowded space a minute more as they struggled with what came next.  
Merlin reached for his phone to ask for the alpha’s number. But before his hand found the right pocket, Eggsy had done up his trousers and stepped toward the sinks. He followed Eggsy out of the stall._

_“So, I’ll uh, see ya ‘round, eh?” Eggsy said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other._

_Merlin knew that dance -- the ‘can we say goodbye and let this be done with’ dance._

_Merlin tried to meet Eggsy’s gaze one last time, but the lad wouldn’t meet his eye. Eggsy surveyed the room, avoiding Merlin in a casual way that hurt but shouldn’t have._

_“OK, then. Be seeing ye.”_

_Merlin washed and dried his hands before heading back to the dancefloor. He was stopped at the edge of the crowd by a strong hand on his wrist._

_“John.” Eggsy leaned to his ear, but still had to raise his voice near shouting to be heard over the speakers. “Thanks for bein’ honest ‘bout the test, yeah? It’s better to know straight away, get proper treatment if there’s anything that shows up.”_

_Merlin nodded._

_“Promise me you’ll get tested again.” At Merlin’s hesitation, Eggsy’s grip became insistent. “John. Not every bloke ‘round ‘ere would tell ya it broke.”_

_Merlin caught a glimpse of Eggsy’s eyes, violet under the flash of pink lights, and saw sincerity in his plea. A lump rose in his throat as he carded his fingers through the hair at Eggsy’s temple. “I will.”_

_At that, Eggsy seemed to relax. The hold on Merlin’s wrist loosened and released._

*** * * * ***

Merlin recalled Eggsy’s half-smile as he turned to leave. The little wink he gave that carried more regret than cheek.

With his hands over his belly, framing his pea-sized stowaway, Merlin let tears fill his eyes. 

In a whisper, he thanked the stupid, fucking condom for being a defective, useless piece of rubbish. 

Merlin stared at his desk, and for the first time when looking at a computer he felt lost. He wasn't sure if he could find their baby’s alpha with just a first name and the memory of his handsome face. But he was going to give it his best and let fate do the rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a near knock-out punch during training, Eggsy joins his friends at a local bakery.  
> Apologies are exchanged, and Percival's matchmaking mission is given opportunity for motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the interest you've shown in this story.  
> To all the readers, subscribers, bookmark-ers, kudos-ers, and commenters -- thank you, thank you! 
> 
> I'm so happy to share this little story with you all. I hope you enjoy it!

**~~*~~*~~**

“Really got ya, didn't he?” Jamal remarked, handing Eggsy a cool pack to ease the swelling that had already begun along his friend’s jaw.

Eggsy looked up at his trainer and friend with an attempt at a frown. “I know I been off, mate. Ain’t gotta rub it in.” He zipped up his tracksuit and brought the pack to his face. 

“Ya need to clear your head, clean out your pipes.” Jamal snapped a towel, catching Eggsy just under his arse. 

Eggsy leveled a glare at him. “Not funny.”

“Ya would’ve got tested anyway. And it was negative. Dunno why you’re all worked up about a bloke you’re never gonna see again. Not like ya find knights in shining armor at Sparks on a Tuesday.”

Jamal went to snap the towel again, but Eggsy caught it and pulled it out of his grip with a snarl.

Eggsy knew the club wasn't the best place to find love, but John had made him forget time and space for a moment. Until, of course, the facade fell and the man assured Eggsy he was just one in a long line of rebound fucks.

Jamal had grown tired of Eggsy's brooding weeks ago. “You’re hopeless. And Charlie outdone ya today, but good.” 

“Swear he's on something,” Eggsy grumbled, grateful for the change of subject.

_Fucking, Charlie. Even a fair fight wasn't really that. The tosser couldn't have improved so quickly on his own._

“Nah, bruv. Wouldn't let him get away with steroids. Heard Gazelle's hit her second trimester. He's tapping into that primal shit.”

Eggsy shifted the gel, annoyed that it was already losing its cooling factor. “What about you then?”

“Not the same, mate. You know that.”

And, yeah, Eggsy knew the surrogate route must be different for everyone involved. Still, he wasn't sure hormones were all the reason for Charlie’s newfound stamina and bulk.

“Tilde’s aces,” Jamal said, smiling down at his phone as he waited for Eggsy to finish organizing his bag one-handed. “Swear down, best thing ever happened to me.”

Eggsy could tell by the goofy grin Jamal wore that he was texting his wife. “You don't have to keep thanking me for introducing you to your wife, bruv.” 

He slipped his backpack over his shoulders and readied himself to leave. The cool pack crackled in his grip as he twisted and pulled, still frustrated by his latest turn in the ring. 

“The alpha/alpha thing just wasn't my taste,” he explained for the dozenth time. 

Eggsy replaced the gel pack over the side of his face and sighed in relief as it reactivated, cooling the ache of his bruising jaw. 

“We shared a lonely Valentine's day, now you'll be buying her chocolates til death do you part.”

Jamal laughed, setting his hand wraps and gloves in neat piles in his locker. “Only champagne and roses for my princess. Thank fuck.” He emphasized his gratitude with a slam of the locker door. 

“Looked into imported chocolates our first year.” Jamal led them out of the locker room and through the main gym. “Bloody expensive. Gotta budget now with Winnie on the way.”

Eggsy slowed his gait as they passed a pair of young fighters sparring on the mats. 

Charlie bounced around the floor with seemingly endless energy and favored the jab that had knocked Eggsy into the corner post.

Charlie caught Eggsy staring and drew his thumb along his jaw where the punch had landed so perfectly. He puckered his lips, sending Eggsy mock kisses with a wink.

Eggsy’s chest rumbled a deep growl as he turned away. Shoving the door open, a blast of autumn air hit his face and cooled his temper.

Jamal pocketed his phone and announced the girls would be meeting up with them for a late breakfast. They had a few hours before their appointment at the midwife.

“How is that whole situation goin’?” Eggsy asked.

Rolling his eyes, Jamal took the the street at a jog. 

Eggsy kept up despite the headache that was building behind his eyes. 

“Wish ya wouldn't call it that, mate. But… baby’s healthy, gettin’ big. Rox and Tilde are loving every minute.”

They’d told Eggsy from the start what they planned and it was still hard to wrap his head around exactly what was happening. “Has Roxy moved in, then?”

“Next week. Girls want to set up the nursery first.”

Eggsy could imagine them going back and forth over every detail, both opinionated, stubborn, and trying to nest. “Bet they bicker like hens.”

“Oi!” Jamal smacked Eggsy upside the head. He was careful of the injury, but the blow threw Eggsy out of step nonetheless.

“Don't disrespect the mothers of my child, arsehole. Don't care you think what we're doing is funny.”

“Only part I think mad is when you refer to them both as the mothers of your child.” Eggsy wondered if, at some point, Jamal talking like that would stir up his wife’s jealousy.

“Rox ain't a bloody incubator, bruv,” Jamal said in a tone that wasn’t to be argued with. “She's our best friend. Yours too.”

They picked up the pace and made it the rest of the way without further conversation. 

Eggsy pinched the bridge of his nose and looked forward to finding the coffee shop they were going to try out. At least then he could get the cold on his face again.

Finally coming to a stop in front of a glass storefront, Eggsy put out his empty hand to Jamal’s shoulder. He swayed with a dizzy spell, the second he'd had that morning. “Think my sugar’s low. Feeling outta sorts.”

“Shouldn’t have hopped from Red Cross to NHS last night, mate. You let them each platelets with a bag of red, yeah?” 

Eggsy didn’t answer and Jamal knew he was right. 

“You know, 'bleed yourself dry’ is a saying not a goal.”

Jamal’s frustration coupled with concern as he took his friend’s bag.

“Yeah yeah.” Eggsy shook the dizziness away and moved the ice pack to his forehead and neck. 

The queue moved up and they shuffled in with it. Last in line, Jamal let the door close behind him. 

Inside was warm and inviting with complimentary aromas of fresh coffee and pastry. 

“Girls are on their way?” Eggsy blinked at his watch and the line of customers ahead of them. “Need to make good with Rottie and Poodle before Dean sends them to find me.”

Eggsy felt a poke to his ribs and turned to see Roxy and Tilde had snuck up behind. 

“Hey.” Roxy wore a look that meant nothing good for him. “Find the place ok?” Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Heard the salted caramel is something to rave about.”

Eggsy scowled at her and stomped Jamal’s toes without warning. “Fuck you. You showed her?”

“You wouldn't watch it, mate!” Jamal said in his defense. “I had to show someone.”

Tilde wrapped her arms around Jamal's middle. “And Rox had to show me. And I… well, I took the liberty of putting it online.” 

She snickered, then put on her best Scottish accent. “Pick up yer feckin’ cheesecake, Eggsy!” 

The three of them, plus a few of the patrons ahead, shared a laugh.

“You’re all a bunch of arseholes. Bad influence on the baby.” Eggsy had a look around and it dawned on him where they were. “Is this--”

Jamal’s grin was sinister as the queue moved forward again. “This is the place, bruv.”

“Well, good,” Eggsy said as he squinted at the showcase, “cause ya owe them a fuckin’ apology. And I still ain’t heard a decent ‘sorry’ from you meself.” 

There were still a couple of people ahead of them, but Eggsy had good enough eyesight. He could make out a few of his favorite pastries on display. He licked his lips at the sight of an overstuffed cream puff and his mouth began to water.

“Oh, come on!” Jamal complained, bringing Eggsy’s attention back to their group. “I thought you’d go for it. Them’s the type do design your own cakes. It wasn’t an issue until ya made it one.”

“No, they don’t,” Eggsy insisted. 

There was even a bold sign on the wall beside the menu, though it looked tacked on as an afterthought. 

Eggsy pointed at the sign for good measure. “Ya didn’t read the site. Only saw they had a bourbon spiked pound cake and a cheesecake I mentioned sounded good on the fly. Then ya hijacked my bloody Instagram for kicks?” 

Eggsy huffed. “Made me look a tosser and a fool.”

Jamal shrugged it off, convinced this was all an overreaction. Eggsy had been in a mood for the past two months, well before the video went viral. “Whatever, bruv.”

Percival rang up his customer, then peered around the next to get a look at the argument. He didn't recognize the one rolling his eyes and couldn't catch sight of the other. Still, talk of a hijacked Instagram, cheesecake, and bourbon… A corner of his mouth curled into a smile. Sounded like he had a lead. 

The men cut their squabble as the four approached the counter and all greeted Percival more politely than he anticipated. Then they rattled off a short list of coffees and teas. 

“I’ll fill the drinks while you pick what you like.” He presented the assortment of baked goods with a sweep of his hand.

Jamal spoke to Roxy's belly, asking his unborn daughter what she was hungry for and the women laughed.

Leaving them to coo over the press of tiny limbs against their hands, Eggsy took it upon himself to choose the bulk of the order. 

Percival lifted his nose at a familiar smell of citrus as Eggsy walked the line of the display case. He hummed to himself, honestly impressed by how close Merlin’s new lemon berry cobbler matched the man's scent.

“Can we get an half dozen of the cream puffs as well?” Eggsy kept the gel pack to his cheek; the pain increased even with the cold.

Percival’s eyebrows came together in confusion. “I’ve already boxed that for you.”

“Yeah, bruv. That’s great, but…” Eggsy felt his jaw locking and did his best not to grit his teeth as he spoke. “I’m gonna need another half dozen profiterole.”

“So, a dozen.”

“A separate box,” Eggsy clarified, the hurt and frustration of an already taxing morning weighing on his nerves. “Of an half dozen.”

“Eggsy,” Tilde called out to him with a note of chastisement. His scent was growing astringent with his irritation. “Relax.”

Shutting his eyes tightly against the headache that was only getting worse, Eggsy took a deep breath. “Look, if you’re taking the piss, mate--”

“It’s all boxed up, sir,” Percival said quickly, adding the box to the stack he’d built for their order. “Sorry for the confusion.”

With a nod, Eggsy waved off the apology. “I think that’s all we need.”

Roxy let out a squeak that had Eggsy’s head whipping toward her. Thinking she was in labor, he ignored the way the room tilted with the swiftness of his turn. He skirted behind Jamal at the register and rushed to her side.

The scent she gave off was giddy with no hint of pain. “Oh my God,” she said breathlessly. “That's him.” 

Eggsy, Jamal, and Tilde followed her gaze to the bald, flour-dusted baker walking out a tray of scones from the kitchen. 

Eggsy brought the gel to his forehead, trying to use the chill to gain some composure. “That's him,” he whispered inaudibly. In his mind the words ran like a track on repeat.

Merlin ignored the whispers from the other side of the counter as he slid a tray of orange-blackberry scones to the bottom shelf of the display. The attention still raised his hackles and drew in larger crowds than he was used to. Everyone wanted to see the baker who lost his shit over a 50 quid cake.

He drew his mouth in a hard line; he wasn’t there to entertain. So when one of the customers raised their voice to ask him over, Merlin almost didn’t go.

Jamal flagged down Merlin to give the apology that he knew he owed the man. “I wanted to come in person and say I’m really sorry about the cheesecake thing, yeah? Didn’t plan for the order to fall through like that. Gonna pay for it today with the rest.”

Merlin narrowed his eyes at the young alpha and glanced at the others huddled behind him. He drew his lips in a thin line wondering if this was another university prank. “Oh?”

Jamal screwed up his mouth. “Was me leaving messages about salted caramel and bourbon, yeah.”

Merlin couldn’t remember if those details had been included in the video. “Fine.” He accepted Jamal’s offer to cover cost. The quiet commotion obscured behind the young man had Merlin narrowing his eyes in suspicion. It wasn’t the first time someone mentioned the video to get a rise out of him. 

With Tilde and Roxy fussing over him, Eggsy placed his hands on his knees. He was feeling woozy again, nauseated. He took deep breaths to try and steady himself, but the smells coming in from the swinging kitchen doors were making his head spin.

“Babe,” Roxy put an arm about his shoulders. “Are you all right?” She helped him upright. “Let’s get you some fresh air.”

Merlin let out a sound of aggravation at the sight of their cowardly retreat. 

As Roxy hurried him out of the shop, Eggsy had a look back at the counter. He saw the baker push through the doors to the kitchen with a loud bang.

Jamal winced at the anger that lingered near the register as he completed their group order.

“He’s not typically like this. Though the video I made didn’t help much.”

Tilde joined Jamal at the register and frowned, sincerity pouring off her in a wave. “I sort of shared it online.”

Percival thanked her when she apologized but assured her it was nothing. “Brought in a lot of business, truthfully.” He gave Jamal’s credit card back.

A thought came to mind as Percival slid the pastry boxes into bags. 

“We’re doing a raffle,” he said. There was an half-empty bowl of sugar packets beside the coffee machine. _Perfect_. He dumped the sugars unceremoniously on the counter. 

“Put your name and number down. You could win a free lunch.” Setting the bowl by the register, Percival handed over his pen and order pad to Tilde. “Your other friends’, too.”

Jamal arched an eyebrow in distaste. “That a wedding band, innit?” he asked with a look at Percival’s hand.

“Swear it’s not a come on,” Percival responded as Jamal took his purchase. “Free lunch raffle.”

Tilde wrote out four separate strips to increase their odds, folded them in quarters, and dropped them in the glass bowl. “Thanks. And, again, I’m sorry for upsetting your baker. Even if it was good for business. It was a dick move.”

She and her fellow waved goodbye; Percival went for the bowl to put it aside.

When the next patron stepped up, however, they reached for the pen and paper. “Can I get in on that raffle as well?”

Ever the obliging barista, Percival put on a kind smile and returned the bowl to the counter. “Of course.”

Tilde and Jamal met the others on the street corner where they found Eggsy sat on the curb with his head between his knees, spitting into the gutter. 

“He really in that bad shape?” Tilde asked, coming up next to Roxy with concern.

“I don’t know.” Roxy rubbed a soothing circle over the high swell of her belly. “Even Winnie’s worried for him.”

Tilde laid her hand where Roxy indicated and felt the baby squirming in discontent. “Aw, sweetheart.” She brought her face close to shush the child. “It’s all right. Your silly uncle will be fine.”

She looked down at her husband who had joined Eggsy on the pavement. “Maybe you should bring him to get Daisy from daycare? Meet us for the ultrasound after.”

Jamal nodded as he held the cold pack to Eggsy’s neck. Eggsy continued to hold his head in his hands and stared at the rotting leaves beneath his feet.

Roxy handed one of the bags to Jamal, not knowing or caring which boxes held what.

“Make sure he eats something real,” she insisted. Roxy nudged Eggsy with her toe to drive her point home. “Can’t survive on Jim Beam and profiterole, you tosser.” 

“Not if ya wanna maintain weight class and knock the pants off that wanker Charlie,” Jamal agreed.

Eggsy spit once more; the nausea passing as a crisp breeze cut through the lane. “I’m good, bruv. Ya can go on without me.”

“Not a chance.”

They sat on the sidewalk a bit longer, sharing a chocolate croissant and making plans for a fast food run after picking up Eggsy’s sister.

Merlin came out the back entrance of Kingsman and stood at the corner with an unlit cigarette between his lips. He flicked the lighter a few times for the feel and sound, then put it back in his pocket. With his back against the building, he mimed the habit he broke years ago.

He spotted the two young men from the counter: EggsyOverEasy and the lad who couldn’t bare to show his face during the former’s apology.

“This is m’ livelihood,” Merlin groused at them. He brought his volume to half-shout to be heard over the wind and sounds of traffic. “I dinnae know who ye think ye are. But this is nae a joke to me.”

Jamal looked over his shoulder at the baker with his head at a tilt. He didn’t get it. The man at the register had said the video had brought in business. What was their ‘wizard of cakes’ up in arms about?

“Said he’s sorry, gov,” Eggsy said when he’d found the words. He pushed himself to over enunciate in order to be understood past the tightness of his jaw. 

“Yer friend cannae look a man in the eye when he speaks?” Merlin asked Jamal with a hard glare.

Eggsy took a deep breath and turned himself gingerly. He lowered the gel pack that had long lost its cold, and he faced the man at the wall. 

Merlin reared back in surprise at the state of the lad. “Shite.” Swelling disfigured the half of his face that came into view, and bruising darkened it in purple and red from chin to eye.

Jamal had a look at Eggsy as well and gasped. “Fuck me, bruv. We may need to get ya looked at.” 

“Ye’re gonna be OK?” Merlin shouldn’t care about the pair of tit-brained strangers, but something about the second man raised his worry. He felt invested for no reason he could put his finger on.

At that thought, Merlin realized his hand had found its way to his abdomen. Of course parenthood would have him looking out for the wounded. 

“I’ll get him to hospital.” Jamal squinted at Eggsy’s eyes, frowning at the way the pupils seemed mismatched in their dilation. “Ya may be concussed, mate.” He sat back. “Fuck.” 

Merlin gave a curt nod and tucked his cigarette into his shirt pocket. “Be more careful, yes?”

Eggsy watched Merlin round the corner, and he leaned into Jamal with a whimper.

“Come on, then.” Jamal dragged Eggsy up to his feet. “Daisy. McDonald’s. Emergency. Gotta call the girls.” He started toward the tube with Eggsy’s hand heavy on his shoulder. “We ‘ave a big day ahead of us.”

**~~*~~*~~**

By closing, the bowl was full of contact information of hopeful raffle contestants and Percival had no idea who was who. Nonetheless, he was brimming with hope.

“I’m headed out,” Merlin grumbled. It wasn’t unusual for him to leave immediately after they’d dismissed the last customer. He’d be first in the next morning to prepare for the breakfast rush. In fact, with all the extra business coming through, he’d been coming to the bakery earlier and earlier.

Percival knew Merlin was lucky to have avoided morning sickness thus far. Even so, they’d likely have to discuss hiring help if business kept up -- especially as the pregnancy progressed.

Harry placed boxes of leftover items on the table nearest the door. It looked like most of the neighboring shops were still open and Harry was certain they’d be interested in a little treat after a long day. 

Before the increase in customer traffic, Harry had suggested distributing leftovers they’d end up with to various locations on rotation. There had been so few items, however, Percival and Merlin brought them home to eat themselves or hand out to the garbage collectors when they passed in the AM. 

Harry looked at the four boxes of baked goods and hummed to himself. _Might be appropriate to discuss that distribution schedule, now,_ he thought.

He turned to watch Percival walk from cleaning the counter to a small table nearby. Percival looked and smelled well-pleased with himself. It sparked Harry’s intrigue; Percival had been a bit quieter since his video of Merlin went viral. 

Harry took the seat across from him and laid his hand upon his husband’s. He stroked Percival’s wedding band with his thumb. “What are you up to, Michael?”. 

Percival held the bowl with reverence and pride. “I found John’s baby daddy.” 

“That’s a lot of names, love,” Harry said cautiously as Percival grabbed slips of paper by the handful and laid them out between them.

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

“So, you’re going to look for Eggsy?”

“Suppose we can start there.”

Harry didn’t like the sound of ‘we.’ His eye ached at the end of the day as it were.

Percival splayed his hands over the array of what looked like rubbish. He didn’t complain when Harry rested his chin on his fist and let Percival do the bulk of the work.

At the end of his first pass, the search for an Eggsy had brought them no luck.

“Names beginning with E?”

They made a stack.

“Oh!” Percival pushed the E’s to the floor and began to rifle through the rest with renewed vigor. 

Harry pulled his hands off the table, affronted. “Wotcher--”

“Gary!” 

Harry’s face fell. “No, love” he said gently. “Harry.” Pointing to himself, he implored Percival to use the name he’d been given at birth; he rather liked it. “Or Galahad, when you and Merlin like to bring the shop home, but… let’s not mash-up the two.” 

Percival looked up from his frantic work and noticed the little frown tugging at the corners of Harry’s mouth, the bit of pink coloring his cheeks. 

Percival stood from the table and went to one knee at Harry’s feet. “Harry, darling” he said, raising a hand to caress his husband’s scarred cheek. “I love you.”

Harry’s soft smile was enough to have Percival repeating the phrase and meaning it with all of his heart.

“I love you, too, Michael.”

Percival let Harry help him up for a kiss. 

When Harry’s lips parted in request for something deeper, Percival gave him a peck and shook his head. 

“Find Gary, darling,” Percival said. 

Harry tried for his bedroom eyes, but Percival appeared unaffected. 

“For John.” 

Harry rubbed at his good eye, begging it to focus a while longer. Then, he gathered the rubbish in a neat deck before dealing slips of paper into piles like playing cards. 

“I will find him, you know,” he predicted.

Percival dealt out stacks of his own. “I’m sure you will,” he told his husband flatly.

“And when I do…” Harry sat straighter in his chair and cleared his throat before making his demand. “There will be sex.”

“Of course, dear.”

Encouraged by Percival’s compliant mood, Harry took it a step further. “And none of this ‘let’s be quiet so we don’t disturb the pregnant omega’ sex. John’s a big boy. He can stuff his ears full of cotton. It’s been too long since I’ve been properly st--”

“Mhmm,” Percival agreed distractedly as he came across a group of papers that looked as through they’d been written by the same, delicate hand.

Harry was still blathering on about the wild, rutty romp he envisioned when Percival dialed Eggsy’s number.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin can't help himself from checking in on Eggsy and his trip to A&E.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wish I could have gotten an update out sooner, but a migraine knocked me out most of last week.  
> I want to thank everyone reading and continuing interest in this story. It's been loads of fun to write; I hope it's fun to read.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> (I spent way to much time trying to correct a portion of Eggsy's text/html. A few of his texts are not italicized, but it should be clear that he is the one sending the messages.)

**~~*~~*~~**

Merlin sat in the kitchen, a sandwich at his side and a notebook in hand, scribbling notes for a new recipe. The page was a mess. Crossing out ingredients and starting over, he was getting nowhere. It wasn’t even important, he knew. But he was tired of the selling the same pastries people could purchase at any bakery in town. He wanted to do something different.

He’d been scouring the internet for any news of a Gary that matched the picture in his memory. But going on only a first name, a pair of blue eyes, and the man’s lemon-berry scent, Merlin had come up empty every day of his search. 

Merlin’s phone beeped with an incoming text; he eyed Percival’s message with a scowl.

_**We're doing a lunch special.**_

It was not the ‘different’ he hand in mind. Of course, every ‘different’ thing Merlin had come up with ended up vaguely the same -- and none of his recipes satisfied his hunger for the strong press of Gary’s lemon-berry kiss on his skin.

Merlin shifted in his chair and snatched up his phone from the table. He needed a distraction before his thoughts brought him down the path toward the erotic melancholia of an angsty shower wank.

_**Quiche would be lovely. Or some sandwich options?** _

Percival’s second message came through just in time to pivot and draw Merlin’s pent up energy. Merlin tapped the mobile screen to call. Percival was sorely mistaken if he thought sending the news via text would save him an argument.

“I am nae a short order cook, nor are we a delicatessen,” Merlin said shortly before Percival could even say his hello. 

“So we’ll let them eat cake,” came Percival’s reply.

“That is nae funny.”

“You can whip up a quiche quick enough,” Percival persisted. “Not for every day.”

“I hate quiche.” Merlin’s pen tip dug into the binding holes of his notebook as he stabbed the offensive idea. “It has absolutely no redeemable qualities.”

Listening in, cheek to cheek with his husband, Harry sighed. Then, quietly as he could, Harry suggested, “We could just tell him about the raffle. That it’s for…” Harry didn’t risk saying ‘you-know-who’ aloud.

Percival hummed and shook his head. He didn’t mind fielding the brunt of Merlin’s frustration. 

Harry’s frown dragged the corners of his mouth down and plumped his lower lip. Percival couldn’t help but pinch it and smile. 

On the line, Merlin rambled a list of all the ways quiche had offended him over the years. Once even-keeled and seemingly unshakable, Merlin had been jumping at any excuse to fight with Percival since their video went viral. 

Percival let him grumble; it gave him more time to play with his husband’s beautiful mouth.

“How many more months of this before these hormones pass?” Harry asked. He licked his lips, nipped at Percival’s thumb, and grinned when he caught it between his teeth.

Percival took his hand back to cover the mic before carefully answering. “Finding Gary is for the good of us all.” 

Merlin heaved a sigh before finishing his rant with an emphatic “It’s so _eggy_.”

Percival shot Harry a look that said this conversation was going exactly where he wanted it to.

“What else are ye gonna ask of me?” Merlin muttered, almost out of steam. “I can hear your cogs turnin’.”

“Speaking of _eggy_ \--” 

Merlin huffed at the way Percival drew out the word. 

“Happy to get a face to the name, weren’t you?”

“Ah, yes, of course.” Though Merlin had second guessed Eggsy’s apologies at the counter, his sincerity for his friend’s injuries outside the shop were genuine. He seemed like a good man, all things considered. “Did the fella pay as he said or baulk at the price?”

“Oh, he paid, and bought more besides. They were a fine group of people, John.”

Merlin didn’t know why, but it sounded like Percival had taken a liking to them. Kindred spirits touched by menace, he mused. 

It was his own fault for letting Percival convince him to tape his rant, Merlin knew. But Percival proudly shared the blame after seeing the influence their video had on the business. It appeared he enjoyed the drama, which made sense to Merlin, given Percival’s choice of husband.

“I felt bad for him. Didn’t you?” Percival asked, hoping that if Merlin thought hard enough about the blond, he’d recognize it was Gary on his own. “Looked a poor sight, he did.”

Merlin’s mouth twisted curiously as he put his pen to paper once more. “The one that came in with Eggsy?”

It took Percival a moment to realize Merlin didn’t know anything about the hijacked Instagram account. “Yes, that’s the one.”

Merlin’s demeanor softened as he remembered the lad at the curb. “Mm. Well, now that’s done, perhaps we can lay this internet nonsense to rest.”

“If that’s what you want.” Percival held Gary’s contact information in his hand, knowing the lunch was only a means to an end. Once either of them sat down for their talk, he doubted they’d care what food was on the table.

Percival went on to talk about the grocery order for the coming week and Merlin nodded along as if he were paying attention. He gave a little grunt here and an ‘of course’ there, but Merlin’s mind had retreated to thoughts of the afternoon. The way he’d treated the man who’d sat half-beaten on his curb weighed on his heart.

Percival knew he wasn’t listening when Harry started the car, blasted Jethro Tull, and Merlin hadn’t said a word. “--and then I’m going to bend my husband over the edge to give it the old Oxford try.” 

When Percival paused to give Merlin a chance to respond, the baker sniffed at the silence on the line. 

“Fine, fine,” Merlin indulged absentmindedly. “Is that all?”

“Mm.” Percival slid his hand up Harry’s thigh as his husband drove, not stopping until his fingers were curled around the hard cock tenting Harry’s trousers. He decided he would take Harry up on his request to fuck him senseless. If Merlin could ignore his own business, then Merlin could certainly ignore their pleasure. “Want us to pick up anything on the way home?” 

“Blackberry brandy,” Merlin said, though he knew full well his mates would show up empty handed. They were staunchly opposed to his berry obsession and refused to enable him. Not to mention he'd sworn off adding alcohol to recipes through the pregnancy.

“Right.” Percival gave Harry’s cock a squeeze and reveled in the sound of Harry’s gasped approval. “Ta, John. See you in a bit.”

Merlin hung up without a farewell, more interested in finding out what had happened after Eggsy and his friend had left the shop. Foolishly, perplexingly he had let the man’s plight settle under his skin. 

Merlin opened the bakery’s account and searched their old orders. 

At the very least, Merlin thought, he owed the friend an apology for his attitude outside the shop. It didn’t serve well to reproach bad manners with worse. And, even Percival would agree, customer retention was important. Extending an olive branch would be good for business.

**~~*~~*~~**

Eggsy groaned in the cot, shutting his eyes against the harsh lighting and asked Jamal how long it'd been. Waiting for the doctors to make their rounds to him was driving him mad.

“Too long,” was the only response Jamal would give.

A nurse popped her head in briefly, lifting their hopes. Then she realized she'd poked into the wrong room and rushed out again.

“Bollocks.”

Eggsy didn’t blame them for being busy, of course. The inner city hospital was rife with emergencies more urgent than a possible concussion. Nonetheless, time dragged.

Trying to follow the nurse’s orders to stay awake, but bored enough to pick his cuticles raw, Eggsy sighed at no one. 

Jamal didn’t even look up from his phone. After handling the brunt of Michelle’s worry during their first hour at A&E, a little sigh from Eggsy wasn’t going to have him jumping to his bedside. He was looking longingly at ultrasound pictures when a notification appeared at the top of his screen.

Jamal grimaced, realizing he was still receiving alerts from Eggsy’s Instagram after all this time. 

“Bruv,” Jamal said with a light kick at the bed. “That baker’s asking after ya. What ya want me to say?”

Eggsy opened one eye, squinting at his friend and suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. John was asking about him? He reached out his arm and beckoned for his phone. 

Eggsy pushed himself up to hold his phone in his lap. His IV beeped a warning and he adjusted the pinched line. It was a very good thing, Eggsy decided, that he had not been hooked up to a heart rate monitor as well. He rubbed his eyes and opened the direct messenger app to see what John had to say after all this time.

**I hope all is well. Did you manage to get your friend to emergency without issue?**

> _ **Yeah.**_ < Eggsy sent, supposing John's message was sort of sweet, if generic.

> _ **Was my friend Jamal sent that order before.**_ < Eggsy went on to explain. > _ **I know he apologized, but I’m sorry for his dumb arse too.**_ <

**Oh.** Merlin sketched checkered boxes on to the corner of his page. **You're Eggsy then.**

Eggsy would have laughed if merely smiling didn't hurt. > _ **I'm Eggsy, yeh. A nickname that stuck. I like it and I'm wounded so don't think of takin the piss tonight.**_ <

**Wouldn't dare.** Merlin sat back in his chair and had a bite of his sandwich. It was a pleasant surprise, how easy it was to talk to this Eggsy character. **They call me Merlin at the shop. Can't say I mind.**

Eggsy knew that the Kingsman had some Arthurian motif back from when he’d seen a print ad for their cakes. He wondered what names the other employees had been given, but not enough to ask just yet. The IV in his hand pulled and Eggsy scratched at the tape. > _ **Still at hospital BTW.**_ <

**Jesus. That bad?**

> _ **Nah. Dunno. Doctors been too busy to check.**_ <

**Sorry to hear that.** Merlin said, and he was, especially after the way he’d snapped at the man earlier in the day. Shame warmed his face. **Ye get in fights often?**

> _ **Ya could say that. Yeah.** _<  
> _ **LOL**_ <__

__**Am I missing a joke? You’re in hospital. Hardly seems funny to me.** _ _

__Behind Merlin, the front door opened and his flatmates walked in laughing and tugging at each other’s clothes._ _

__Harry waved a hand to Merlin as he dragged Percival upstairs, positively giddy at the promise of having his husband in ‘whatever fashion he wanted.’_ _

__Merlin’s mouth quirked up at a corner before taking his dinner to the far end of their home. It was a retreat of sorts, a mode of self preservation. The way his pregnancy affected his emotions, hearing the activities his friends engaged in behind closed doors struck him in one of two extremes: a fit of tears or a disturbing need to wank. It wouldn’t do to get caught up in either while in the midst of conversation -- especially not while the man on the other end was in hospital and certainly had no interest in dealing with either situation should they rise._ _

__The library was secluded, quiet, and comfortable. Merlin settled onto the small sofa and lifted his feet to an ottoman as he returned his attention to his mobile._ _

__> _ **I’m a fighter.**_ < he read with curiosity and a touch of concern._ _

__Merlin hoped Eggsy meant as profession. **Boxing?**_ _

__> _ **MMA. Mixed martial arts. Rather good actually.**_ < Eggsy usually exercised restraint in egotistical display, but something about John had him wanting to prove his strength as an alpha. He rolled his eyes at himself -- Charlie’s punch had bruised more than his face. _ _

__> _ **Got caught off guard by a guy in my weight class.**_ < Yeah, probably a good idea to give reason for the damage that’d led him to A&E. > _ **Bloke decided to take things seriously all the sudden. I shouldn't have underestimated him.**_ <_ _

__“Ya still on with the baker?” Jamal interrupted Eggsy’s thoughts, but only enough to earn him a nod in response as Eggsy finished his explanation._ _

__Eggsy felt his ears flush with the secret he wasn't ready to share. Until Eggsy knew where this thing was going, Jamal didn't need to know Merlin was the man from the club._ _

__Jamal raised an eyebrow as he heard the quick ticks of Eggsy typing. Eggsy shrugged at him; he didn’t want to admit the way his heart leaped at each message he received._ _

__**Purple is not a good look on you.** Merlin said with sincerity and hoped he wasn’t being too forward. **I hope I never see it again.**_ _

__Eggsy imagined it was concern and not ridicule. > _ **You have your livelihood, I have mine.**_ <_ _

__**Aye.** _ _

__Eggsy looked up at the knock on his open door and found himself disappointed at the sight of the long awaited doctor visit. > _ **Gotta go.**_ <_ _

__**Best luck.** _ _

__Eggsy gave a smile with the half of his face that could, and Jamal’s eyebrow lifted higher._ _

__In embarrassment and annoyance, Eggsy tossed his phone at his mate and swore when Jamal let the mobile bounce off his chest and crash onto the floor. “Really, bruv?”_ _

__Bedside, the doctor cleared her throat. “Feeling better?”_ _

__Eggsy turned to her and answered honestly. “In some ways, yeah. Headache is worse.”_ _

__Though he was stuck at hospital for two more hours for tests, Eggsy could only stare at his busted phone. When Jamal offered to take it for repair in the morning, Eggsy didn’t argue. Besides the splitting headache that Tylenol wouldn’t touch, Eggsy would have to skip the next fight. Without decent income he’d be lucky to cover his debt with Dean and make rent. Replacing his phone wasn’t in his budget._ _

____

**~~*~~*~~**

It was two days before Eggsy had a working mobile in hand. The morning after that, Eggsy was feeling steady enough on his feet to visit mum and pay off his step father.

He stood at the door of his mum’s flat with his hands in his pockets, thumb set to dial emergency just in case. Although altercations with Dean had never yet come to blows, Eggsy didn’t trust it wouldn’t. Dean could fly off the handle at any moment. Eggsy knew better than to show his face to Dean and be caught unawares -- and if that wasn’t a sickening thought, Eggsy didn’t know what was.

“Wotcher got for me, boy?” Dean snatched the envelope as soon as Eggsy held it out. He shuffled through the bills and his nostrils flared. “Dis ain’t enough.” Dean threw the money down on the counter and shoved Eggsy’s chest.

“What we agreed on,” Eggsy insisted albeit timidly. “What ya asked for.”

“Daycare won’t take the baby while she’s sick; you’re mum had to hire a sitter. It costs.”

“Daisy’s got sick?” It was the first Eggsy was hearing of it. He’d just seen his sister earlier that week; she’d been well. “I woulda stayed with her. Cost ya nothing.”

“Have you lounging about ‘ere?” Dean fumed. Eggsy was grateful the man seemed to temper his rage around mum, but his default around Eggsy had always been aggression. “Eat our food, rack up the utilities bill?”

“I could have taken her to mine.” It wasn’t much -- a flat shared with a few other MMA hopefuls.

Dean ignored him. “You owe me another 300.”

Eggsy opened his mouth to argue.

“400 if I have to look at your ugly mug another minute.”

Eggsy’s mum appeared in the hallway with Daisy in her arms. She gave Eggsy an apologetic half-smile before he left. No words in defense of her son came from her; they never did anymore.

Dean slammed the door behind Eggsy. 

In the stairwell, Eggsy paused at the fire escape. He gazed longingly at the rooftops calling for him to run. 

Turning from the barred window on his heel, Eggsy pulled up his hood and trudged into the London fog of morning. He made it midway of his mum’s and the gym before the dizzying sounds of traffic had him ducking into a coffee shop. 

As he sat to a breakfast of a buttered roll and orange juice, Eggsy absently reached into his pocket. It was better to hide his face, downloading apps to the refurbished phone, than acknowledge the stares from other patrons at the cafe.

> _ **How is it your bread’s all crust and fluff and this is like eating a chewy brick?**_ <  
[[attached photo sent]]

Eggsy didn’t get a response. So he smeared too much jam on the roll to make it palatable. Still, chewing through the roll made his bruised jaw ache.

> _ **Sorry, gov. You’d be working, yeah?**_ <

Never one to waste food, Eggsy took another bite to finish the roll, then went up to the counter for something else to satisfy his appetite. An egg on croissant sounded promising, until he received his boxed sandwich. He sent Merlin another photo.

> _ **Never before had an egg so runny it sogged the croissant.**_ <

After his remarkably dissatisfying meal, Eggsy went to the gym and spoke to the owner about his condition. 

Cleaning locker rooms, wiping down equipment, and doing loads of wash for Poppy didn’t upset his head too much. Eggsy was even feeling well enough to try the stationary bike by late afternoon. It was something, at least, to keep fit until the doctor cleared him for proper training.

Eggsy was showered and dressing for a long walk home when his phone buzzed on the bench.

**You’re trying to piss me off.** Merlin sent with a smirk.

> _ **What? No.**_ < Eggsy’s thumbs flew over the mobile screen as his stomach flipped. He had been looking for a way to break the ice and pull John back into conversation now that he had his phone again. The last thing Eggsy wanted was to push him away.  
> _ **I know I shouldn’t have bothered you while workin.**_ <  
> _ **I’m sorry.**_ <

Merlin read the texts coming in as the tube to his flat rumbled over the rails. Poor lad thought he was truly upset? 

Funny thing about text-only communications, the intention of a message could be lost or twisted so easily. Then again, Eggsy’s reaction wasn’t unwarranted. Merlin hadn’t exactly made a great first impression. Or second. 

Their repore the other night had been nice, Merlin thought, although it had been days since hearing from him. 3 days. Not that Merlin was counting.

**That “brick” looks like focaccia. Wasn’t far off what it’s supposed to be from the look of it. The oil soaked croissant, however. smdh. Disgrace.**  
**Why didn’t ye come by Kingsman? I would’ve made ye breakfast.**

Merlin held his breath. Now _that_ , he knew, was bordering on fliration. Yeah, bordering. But Merlin only offered as a way to make up for his rude behavior the other day, of course.

Eggsy chewed at his lip wishing it were that easy to pop across town and spend six quid on a croissant, but he’d make due with what was local and cheap. 

He stood to switch laundry from the wash to dryer and remembered another, painful, reason why he wouldn’t make that trip or any others for awhile.

> _ **Tube makes me nauseous.**_ <

**True concussion then?**

> _ **What they tell me. Work gone easy today. Not sure how long that’ll last.**_ < Eggsy knew after a few days of tidying up, Poppy’d be chomping at the bit to put him back on the lists to fight. Paying him to clean doesn’t make her any money.

Work? Merlin’s swear of surprise was swallowed by the screech of the train skidding to a stop at the platform. Concern for the lad washed over him in a wave. **You’re boxing again?**

Eggsy shook his head as he read from his phone and immediately regretted the movement. > _ **MMA.**_ < Some people didn’t care to know the difference, but something had him wondering if Merlin was doing this to get a rise out of him -- payback for the morning’s texts. If it was Merlin’s way of being cheeky, Eggsy decided to enjoy the tease.

He knocked the dryer door shut with his knee and set it to go. Eggsy chucked his towel into the empty trolly for laundry knowing it’d be full and waiting for him in the morning.

Merlin sent a slanty face to portray his unease.

> _ **Didn’t step in the ring. Swear down, gov. Off that and training for two weeks. Doc said maybe more, but can’t afford that.**_ <  
> _ **I’ll be doin’ odds and ends at the gym for some cash between fights.**_ <

**Ye make enough doing that?**

Eggsy couldn’t help but tally his debts in his head and he swallowed hard. > _ **I get by.**_ <

Delay in Eggsy’s response had Merlin wondering to the truth in it. He rounded the block to his flat and took the steps by two.

**Could always use a hand at Kingsman,** he sent before unlocking the door.  
**Your fault we’re so busy.**

> _ **Only you would complain your shop’s doing well**_ <

Merlin smiled shortly at that and let himself into his home. Music streamed through the flat, too loud for him personally, but the progressive rock carried Merlin’s good mood on its melody. 

Harry was home, likely working in his office. Merlin adjusted the volume of the living room speakers and collapsed into his favorite armchair.

**I prefer quiet work. Order.** The areas of the flat of which he had control -- his bedroom, the library, the kitchen -- reflected that. **I like my kitchen.**

As Merlin relaxed, an idea came to mind. **Do ye bake?**

> _ **Not a lick.**_ < Eggsy laughed a low and broken thing. He remembered the catastrophe of his attempt at Daisy’s birthday cake and the wrath he’d endured when Dean had walked in on the mess. > _ **You wouldn’t want me in your perfect kitchen, gov.**_ <

**Work a register?** Merlin was determined to help Eggsy out for reasons he couldn’t name. Spending time with him, getting to know him, only seemed to graze the surface.

> _ **Cheers.**_ < The offer was kind, but other than seeing John everyday it didn’t hold much appeal.  
> _ **I’d be spendin most money I made on cabfare til this headache passes.**_ < It wasn’t a lie. Nonetheless, turning Merlin down left a sunk feeling in his chest and a frown on his face.

**I see.** The happy wave Merlin had been riding ebbed into disappointment. He put his phone on the end table and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. This was ridiculous. Eggsy had turned down the job, not rejected him. And what should Merlin care if he did? 

Merlin’s hand fell to his belly and he threw his head back. He was in no position to start up something new, not when he was still caught up in the search for his baby’s other father.

Eggsy listened to the deafening silence of his phone; he didn’t know what to say next. Judging by the idle screen of his mobile, neither did Merlin.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time he was home Eggsy was ready to crash. But his roommates didn’t care about his exhaustion or splitting headache, his need for cool compress, meds, and rest. Their nagging, about rent he couldn’t pay, started up again as soon as he walked in the door.

Of course he felt like shit for coming up short again and again. The end of the month was supposed to bring in a big paycheck, a win. And everyone was supposed to get off his back a while - until the next dry spell and series of losses. 

Instead, he sat out another fight, knew he’d be missing the next tournament, and fell deeper into debt. As his roommates’ grumbles turned into shouts - like screaming at him would fatten his wallet - one person came to mind.

_Dean._

Eggsy’s stepfather always had a job. The payoff was next to garbage, but it was more than nothing.

Finally, the yelling stopped - or Eggsy had succeeded in tuning it out. Either way, he was turning to the hall. 

His bedroom offered welcome repose. The door closed behind him and he released a sigh. All he wanted was to lie down with a bag of ice on his head and sleep.

The mattress springs creaked beneath him as he sank in. Shoes hit the floor with twin thunks. Eggsy flexed his toes as he curled onto his side. In his palm, his phone lay quiet. 

As he stared at the blank screen, waiting for a notification that didn’t come, Eggsy knew he had been wrong about what he truly wanted. 

It’d been days since he’d heard from Merlin. Eggsy would have broken the silence between them over the weekend, when things at Poppy's meat factory gym had slowed, if only he could think of something to talk about.

This subject, however, felt markedly inappropriate. He couldn’t go crawling to the baker about money problems after turning down more than one position at Kingsman. 

A low beep from his phone alerted him to a notification and Eggsy really shouldn’t have snapped his head up so fast. Especially when he saw it was a voicemail. The same alert he’d been receiving for all week. Eggsy dropped his phone onto his chest and groaned.

Merlin didn’t have his number and so the voicemail didn’t seem important. Eggsy assumed it was an automated call trying to sell something he didn’t need and couldn’t afford. With nothing better to do, however, Eggsy decided it was time to listen to and delete the message.

His eyes lit up with excitement and confusion as a voice told him he had won a free lunch. 

“Come in anytime after 11. We look forward to seeing you.”

Eggsy smirked through the prompts to delete the message, then typed a quick text to Jamal. 

> _ **You put my number in some raffle?**_ <

**Tilly put us all in.**

Juggling his phone and a shopping cart full of baby stuff, Jamal stepped up to the register. The line of new and soon-to-be parents behind him shuffled toward the counter. 

His purchases were scanned and the monitor threatened his attempts at keeping a balanced bank account. When the bill came in a few quid short of budget, Jamal handed his card to the cashier with a relieved smile. 

Eggsy’s response came in as Jamal loaded his bags and boxes into the car. > _ **I won.**_ <

**Great bruv**

Jamal knew it was a pity lunch, an act of charity, and that Eggsy would refuse the meal if he found out. So few good things came about for his mate, Jamal kept his mouth shut.

Merlin was certainly pulling out all the stops to get him back in that shop, Eggsy thought fondly.  
Although the visit would have to wait, he was glad for an excuse to stop by the bakery once he was able. 

Emboldened by the ‘win’, Eggsy tapped out a request to Merlin that he use his mobile number instead of the app for texts. 

> _ **If that makes things easier.**_ <

He added his mobile number to the message, just in case.

The text he received minutes later caused his heart a little leap, but the feeling settled when he saw it was Jamal again.

**20 quid, pizza, and beer for your help with this crib.**

> ** _Yeah. All right._** <

Eggsy would’ve done it for the food alone, but he knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth. He and Jamal always found ways to slip each other well-earned cash when they needed it. Never kept tabs on any of it. There was enough back and forth, that it seemed to even out.

**I’ll pick ya up in a mo’. Once I get the bloody box in the boot.**

 

When they got to Jamal’s flat, Tilde was in the throes of a fit. She banged pots on the stove and slammed the pantry door. Her shoes clapped loudly against the kitchen tile as she stomped around.

The joy and expectation that had filled the baby-proofed rooms for the last six months were muted by her mournful frustration. 

“Tilly?” Eggsy asked, dropping his bag at the entryway and coming in.

Jamal tipped the box for the crib, end over end, to get it through the door without help. He let it drop to the floor when he noticed the change in his wife. “What’s happened?”

Tilde glanced up at him and looked ready to scream. Instead, she sank to the floor, put her face to her knees and started to sob. Jamal was at her side in an instant.

Eggsy remembered these breaks, but it had been a while since the last. 

Back when she and Jamal were engaged and Tilde’s parents stood in opposition to her alpha/alpha marriage, they'd been frequent and intense. Judging by the state of the kitchen, this episode ranked somewhere in the middle of temperate to extreme.

Tilde had pleaded with her parents to understand. ‘Love is love,’ she would repeat until the words temporarily lost their meaning. Still, not only did they cut her off, but fully disavowed her of rank, titles, and family name. All that, specifically because her marriage wouldn't produce an heir. 

Eggsy went to the kitchen briefly, dropped a kiss to each Tilde and Jamal’s heads, and silently made his way to the baby’s room.

The Jack and Jill bathroom that connected the nursery to the room Roxy was moving into seemed a good place to gather his thoughts. He sat at the edge of the tub and drummed his fingers on the porcelain. 

He had tapped through the chorus of Run, Boy, Run when he heard a knock on the door.

The creak of its hinges turned Eggsy’s head and prompted him to his feet. Roxy was there with her arms wrapped around her baby bump, looking like her heart was breaking. She wasn’t usually one so accepting of physical comfort, but she leaned into Eggsy as he drew her up in a hug and scented her neck. 

“All right, Rox?”

Roxy sniffled and wiped her eyes on the wad of tissue she held in her hand. She shook her head. When she spoke, her voice was raw enough to betray that she’d been crying for quite some time. 

“I know she’s happy to have a baby,” Roxy assured herself as well as Eggsy. “But I also know she’s angry it isn’t her who gets to be carrying it.”

That would have been enough, Eggsy thought, for Tilde to be upset, but there was more. Not only had Tilde been unable to bear her own child, the baby wasn’t hers genetically either. After several tries with Tilde, it had been Jamal’s sample that brought them a positive test result. And with everything her parents had said about an heir, it was yet another obstacle between reconciling with them.

Down the hall it sounded like Tilde had pushed past her sobs and returned to her symphony of metal on metal clangs. “Mummys have babies!” She was shouting loud enough to be heard through the rooms of their flat - and through the walls to the apartments next door. “Mums feed them and make fucking cupcakes for school bake sales!”

Roxanne sat herself on the toilet lid and sighed. “Tilly ran out of eggs last night making batch after batch of brownies and cookies. The shelter appreciated the treats well enough. But she won’t stop.”

“Likes to keep busy.” Eggsy knew that about their girl.

“ _Needs_ to. Homemaker’s really not her bag.” Roxy cast an empathetic look at the door as Tilde’s definition of motherhood petered out. “I thought she was blowing off extra energy. Until-”

More noise rose from the kitchen, but Tilde’s shouts died out. 

“Baking therapy,” Eggsy said, his hand fidgeting with the phone in his pocket. “Gotta be better than shopping sprees, innit?”

Roxy scoffed. “With Jamal’s salary and you out of commission? I’d say so.”

“She’s out of eggs, yeah?”

“Flour and brown sugar are low too. Fair guess to say the muffins she put it are mostly flour and oil.”

Eggsy cringed for the poor souls who’d be destined to eat them. “Feeling up for a grocery run? Get us out of the way for a bit.”

Roxy changed clothes while Eggsy went to the kitchen for a list of ingredients. When she found him again, Eggsy had one hand on the front door already. With sharp gestures, Eggsy tried to tell her something. All his pointing and waving had her feeling like they were in a Mission Impossible movie, but she had no idea what he was saying.

Bemused, Roxy crept down the hall as covertly as her pregnant body would carry her. But her eyes widened like a deer’s caught in headlights when a shout from Tilde stopped her in her tracks. 

“Hey!” 

The expanse of the kitchen remained between them, but the air was charged.

“Hi,” Roxy answered.

The women stared at each other. Tilde licked her lips and took a breath, looking like she was ready to start up again. Her fists curled at her sides, inciting Eggsy to go to Roxy’s side. The low rumble Tilde had been harboring grew louder until Jamal placed his hand on her arm. 

Blinking, Tilde took a step back. Recognition passed over her face. She was with friends, not threats. Her vision blurred. 

Wiping roughly at the tears before they fell, Tilde let out a sharp huff. Then, addressing Eggsy, she snapped, “If you can get me some bloody vanilla beans, I’d greatly appreciate it.” 

Though Tilde attempted a somewhat softer tone, the way she barked orders from the kitchen had Jamal glancing meaningfully toward the exit.

Roxy looked back to TIlde with a neutral expression: no pity, no remorse. Her practiced calm kept the situation from escalating. “Anything else, we’ll have our phones.” 

Their friendship would survive the day. Roxy was positive the months and years behind them would carry them through the last weeks of pregnancy and beyond. Her confidence allowed her to recognize and accept what civility Tilde was trying desperately to display.

Jamal gave them a nod and Roxy and Eggsy slipped into the hall without further word.

When they made it to street level, Eggsy took a moment under the eaves to reorient himself with the sights, sounds, and smells of the city street. 

“All right, Eggsy?” Roxy asked as he drew in slow lungfuls of air.

The transition from being indoors to the cacophony of the city still left him feeling turned on an axis. Although a dull headache lingered, the disorientation passed quicker than last time. 

He offered Roxy a smile before they headed to the shops. “Her muffins didn’t rise in the oven. Not enough baking soda or baking powder or whatever.” Eggsy explained. 

Roxy chose to ignore his arched brow; she didn’t find Tilde’s frustration amusing in the least. “Did she give you a list?”

Seeing his attempt at levity had fallen flat, Eggsy stammered an apology. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-” 

Roxy held out her hand. “The list?”

“I don’ really have one,” Eggsy said with a shrug. “She rattled off some things that may have been ingredients. It was all Swedish, so, eh…”

Roxy released a heavy sigh. “We can just get a little bit of everything, I guess.”

 

Standing in the baking aisle of the market, Roxy and Eggsy exchanged wary looks. Just the variations of flour displayed was enough to overwhelm. And there were still hundreds of other ingredients from which to choose.

Eggsy took out his phone and sent Merlin a 999 emergency.

> _ **Got a situation here, gov. Was sent to the store without a list.**_ <  
[[attached image]] 

The picture of the grocery aisle was enough to clue Merlin in.

**I’ll call you back.**

The response came in Eggsy's text messenger app instead of Instagram and brought a smile to his face.

It wasn’t a minute later that his phone was ringing with what he hoped was Merlin’s number displayed on screen.

“Hullo?” Eggsy greeted. His silly smile and the way he scuffed his trainers over the ground were enough to draw Roxy’s interest. 

“Eggsy, this is-”

“Yeah, I know.” Eggsy’s smile grew and Roxy’s jaw dropped when she heard him giggle into the phone.

Merlin connected his phone to the delivery van’s Bluetooth. “What is it you’re trying to make?” 

With a last glance over his shoulder, he checked on pastry boxes laid securely behind. There was no time frame for which the leftovers needed be dropped off. He considered taking a grocery trip himself. 

Eggsy pulled a face at Roxy and the shelves. “Muffins? Cake? Pie? Not sure yet, but we need to stock the pantry. Rox is with me.” Eggsy held out the phone between them for Roxy to say ‘hi’.

“Ah, well, hullo,” Merlin said in greeting. Perhaps the phone call would have to be enough. Eggsy already had company. “How are ye, Rox?”. 

Roxy held Eggsy’s gaze with an incredulous lift of her lip. She hid her confusion when answering the relative stranger. “It’s Roxy. And I’m well, thanks. You?”

“Good, good. Shaped up to be a fine day afterall.” Merlin wiped at his smile. The days since Eggsy turned down his job offer had flown by - bakery orders were flooding in with the holidays right around the corner. But getting Eggsy’s number and being introduced to his friend had him feeling like he could float.

When Eggsy realized Roxy and Merlin weren’t going to say anything else, he turned off speakerphone and brought the mobile back to his ear. This was for Tilde, after all. 

“Know ya probably don’t wanna give away your magic,” Eggsy said with a slight frown, “but it’d really help my mate to make something she can be proud of.”

Merlin’s smile faltered at Eggsy’s tone. Still, it had his heart beating a beat faster that Eggsy had turned to him for help when a Google search would provide much of the same. “Don’t really have magic, Eggsy.”

Eggsy’s voice was a whisper and his cheeks flushed with heat. “Could’ve fooled me, Merlin.”

Merlin promised to send some recipes later in the night. In the meantime, he provided a detailed and specific list of items ‘every good baker’s pantry should have’.

“So, is she?” Merlin asked conversationally.

Eggsy turned to Roxy with a question in his eyes. “Is she what?” he asked Merlin in reply.

“Any good?”

If the cupcakes she made on their birthdays were anything to go by, Eggsy could confidently say that Tilde knew what she was doing. But he’d never seen her try anything that seemed particularly adventurous. 

Eggsy conveyed his observations and Merlin hummed his response.

Roxy stepped close to the phone and added, “Something more challenging would be interesting. Keep her mind occupied on the task.”

“But we don’t want her to fail,” Merlin said as he considered what recipes he would pass along. 

Eggsy breathed his relief at Merlin’s understanding. “Yeah, gov. Ya think you can help us out.”

“Happy to try.”

Merlin went on to guide them through the refrigerated section. As they filled their cart, Roxy noted each smile, blush, and shy duck of Eggsy’s head. The color high in Eggsy’s cheeks remained even after he returned his phone to his pocket.

When they were finally headed for the checkout queue, Roxy poked Eggsy in his ribs. “I cannot believe you’ve gone arse over tits for the baker at Kingsman.” 

Eggsy rolled his eyes as he took inventory of everything they’d gathered. 

“Not saying he’s not good looking or… kind-” because she could see he was certainly glad to help at the drop of a hat. “Does this we can bid mean mopey Eggsy adieu?”

“Just friends,” he said, not meeting her eye.

“Don’t give me that line.”

They started loading the counter with sugars, oats, and flour. As per Merlin’s instruction, the smaller, lighter items were saved for last.

Eggsy shrugged. “It’s the truth, innit? He ain’t said he was interested in more.”

“Christ. Not that long ago he was literally shouting to the world what a prat he thought you were. Jamal said he checked in while you were in hospital… Never mentioned the flirty phone calls.”

Eggsy flushed a darker shade of pink, but he didn’t reply. He wasn’t sure what was going on between them. He held out hope, however, that Roxy was right and Merlin was flirting back.


	5. Chapter 5

**~~*~~*~~**

Though Merlin was curious what had Eggsy’s friend upset, he respected her privacy and Eggsy’s dedication to it.

He was at the bakery at 4AM, kneading dough for sweet buns and chilling an array of freshly prepared jam spreads. He was definitely not thinking about how he and Eggsy had graduated to nightly phone calls. Wasn’t imagining Eggsy’s smile through his sarcasm. Wasn’t remembering the sound of Eggsy’s laugh. 

With all of this _not thinking_ , the bakery was lucky Merlin’s hands worked on muscle memory alone.

The distraction only intensified when a picture was received on his phone. He recognized the ringtone immediately and picked sticky dough from his hands before tapping the screen with his elbow.

It was trifle. 

Merlin’s eyes widened as he took in the garnish of fresh toffee shards and carefully assembled, clean, even layers. Impressed with the lady’s skill in decorating, he responded via voice to text.  
**Spectacular. That’s beautiful.**

> _ **Tastes like sin.**_ <

Merlin licked his lips at another _non_ thought about _not_ Eggsy.

He ran through recipes in his head; Eggsy’s friend could use a challenge. Something still within the skill level of an amateur, but certainly more difficult than layered cakes and creams. Merlin was in the process of dictating a recipe for creme brulee when a second photo came through.

The picture of Eggsy, eyes hooded, mouth full of trifle, stirred an interest in Merlin’s groin. The tongue peeking out to to catch a smear of whipped cream at the corner was as inviting as it was inciting his jealousy. 

**Now that’s a sight of beauty.** Merlin sent boldly. There was no reason for Eggsy to send such a picture if not to tease. And after their playful banter the night before, Merlin felt a thrill at testing whatever it was going on between them.  
**You look like sin.**

> _ **Consider my mission accomplished then,**_ < Eggsy sent with a wink face.

**For that, I’ll bake the bourbon cake and eat it alone.**

> _ **OMG. Not fair.**_ < After a minute, Eggsy added, > _ **Send pics or it didn’t happen.**_ <

This was surely flirting, Merlin decided. 

> _ **Thanks again, John. Sorry for botherin ya at work. Know it’s not the first time.**_ <

**And I hope it’s not the last.** Merlin sent a wink, keeping this lighthearted seemed like the best plan after their short but brazen exchange.  
**It’s never a bother to hear from ye,** he couldn’t stop himself from adding. **I’m glad to help.**

**~~*~~*~~**

The next day, Tilde had done bread pudding and a dozen torched creme brulee in ramekins. Eggsy promptly forwarded her pictures to Merlin. And added one of his own, similar to the day before. This time, he was licking his spoon clean.

 **Magnificent,** Merlin said of Eggsy’s tongue and Tilde’s puds.  
**Well done.**

> _ **Ya still need a hand over there?**_ <

With a twist of his hips and lifted knee, Merlin shifted himself in delightful discomfort. **More than ye know.**  
[[sent: photo of mixing bowls and half full cake pans ready to be put into the oven]]  
**Bourbon soaked sponge cake with vanilla buttercream.**

Merlin didn’t _do_ selfies, but he did think his kitchen looked enticing. He hoped it would inspire Eggsy for a visit.

> _ **You’re makin’ me blush at work, gov. Starving for a taste.**_ < Surely Merlin knew what he was doing. He had to know why Eggsy mentioned that was suddenly his favorite flavor combination. No one was that oblivious to their own scent.

Eggsy noticed a shift toward citrus-berry recipes added to Kingsman online menus, as well. Not that he was stalking the website. Seeing evidence of Merlin’s affinity to the flavors had sent a coil of warmth through Eggsy’s core. Even days later, the heat hadn’t abated. 

**Better not catch your fingers in my batter,** Merlin warned, a blush blooming high on his cheeks.

 _Bloody hell._ Eggsy would have slid his hands down his pants if he wasn’t in a public place. Even at the gym, his mind was racing for a hidden spot to get off. 

> _ **Only with your permission,**_ < Eggsy promised.  
> _ **I’d lick the bowls and beaters clean.**_ <

Waiting on Merlin’s response encompassed his attention; Eggsy didn’t notice he’d drawn company.

“Holy shit, bruv.” Jamal pushed Eggsy’s phone down so their hands shielded Eggsy’s arousal from anyone who may be looking. “Reign it in.” Then, Jamal pushed him by the shoulders toward the corner of dumbbells. “That a chat room for porn or the baker?”

“Wot?”

“Ya been gettin’ moon faced at your phone since that bump on your head. First time I seen you flushed and givin’ bedroom eyes, though.”

Eggsy took his _bedroom eyes_ and rolled them as dramatically as he could. 

“You got a real thing for this baker, or what? We can finally lay that John-fuck-arsehole aside and move on?”

Eggsy pressed his lips together so they were white. “Don’t fucking call him that.”

Jamal’s scowl held more pity than anger. “Eggsy, mate, it’s time.”

“It’s John.” Eggsy lifted waved his phone in his friend’s face, but moved fast enough his texts were just a blur. 

“Who is?”

Eggsy gave him a look that begged to be understood.

“The baker?” After spending so much of his energy pissed at the bloke who left Eggsy high and dry, then getting his hopes up on the baker at Kingsman, Jamal didn’t how to reconcile the information the men were one and the same. He didn’t know how to be happy for his friend. “Oh,” he said.

“He must have recognized me under all this ugly and--” 

Jamal offered a weak smile and an attempt at levity. “Bruv, I hate to break it to ya, but your mug’s always been rough.”

“Anyway,” Eggsy said emphatically, “he’s nice. Kinda gentlemanly, y’know?” Eggsy looked down at his phone wistfully as he waited for Merlin’s response. “We become friendly. Maybe more. Think he’s flirting.”

Cautiously, curiously, Jamal cocked an eyebrow at his friend. “Are you flirting back?”

“What do you think? Man makes croissants like clouds and is fit as the devil.” Eggsy went on to gush over his personality and how the man made him laugh, but Jamal was stuck.

Really stuck. “Hold on, mate. Hold on. The _baker_ is _John_.”

Eggsy looked at Jamal with a wide smile. “Yeah.”

It’d been weeks since their stop by the shop and night in emergency. Why would Eggsy keep something like that quiet? 

Jamal turned to the open gym and took a seat beside his friend. “Have ya asked him out?” He thought his tone was light, casual. “Has he asked you?”

Despite the question being simple and unassuming, Eggsy held himself defensively. “Nah, mate. Just friends. I got that message from the bakery, but been too sick then embarrassed to go.”

“Wait. Ya won the raffle, did'n ya? Has he mentioned it?” Jamal remembered how conveniently it had begun during their order. Even if Baker/John didn’t ask Eggsy on a date outright, Eggsy winning couldn’t have been a coincidence. 

“Nah, but, he knows I’ve been keeping close to home.” Eggsy considered Merlin didn’t know a free meal had been offered or awarded to a Kingsman patron. “He doesn’t like dealing with customers more than he has to. A lunch raffle isn’t really his thing, yeah?”

Jamal eyed the phone in Eggsy’s hand with his lips drawn in a line. “Hmm.”

“What’s that face?” Eggsy shoved Jamal’s shoulder and regarded him with a frown.

“Just my face.” Jamal blinked up at him, somehow looking innocent though beneath the surface he was anything but. He couldn’t hold it for long.

“Nah, I knew. That’s your ‘I’m gonna stick myself where I don’t belong’ face.”

Jamal shrugged with a sly grin.

**~~*~~*~~**

Although he managed to refrain from checking his phone more than a dozen times. Not hearing from Eggsy was almost as distracting as holding a conversation would have been. He found himself lost in even the simplest, routine recipes.

With a grunt, Merlin dumped the sugar back in the bin and weighed it a second time.

When Percival joined him in the kitchen to see what was taking so long on the afternoon fill trays, Merlin knew he had it bad. 

 

When the next round of pictures came through, Merlin thanked Christ all he had left to do during business hours was add rosettes to a handful of cakes.

To keep himself from vibrating out of his skin or put himself completely out of commission, Merlin refused to comment on the lemon curd smeared over Eggsy's plump lips or the way those lips wrapped around his finger.

Instead, he focused on the perfect set of the pie filling and the flaky, well baked crust.  
**Tell me your friend wants a job at my shop.**

> _ **You serious?**_ <

**She can run a trial. If that all tastes as good as it looks, she's hired.**

**~~*~~*~~**

Night had fallen hours before, but Tilde’s heart and mind raced keeping her awake. She held Roxanne in bed, tracing the roundness of her belly with her fingertips.

“Should I take it, Rox?”

The pillow crinkled under Roxy’s shoulder as she shrugged. “How are your knife skills? You can take the baby via cesarean today, if you're up for it.”

“Not funny.” She gave Roxanne’s arm a firm pinch, and followed it with a press of lips to the injured muscle.

“Sorry, doll.” Roxanne enjoyed the floral scent of Tilde’s shampoo that wafted up as the woman shifted on the mattress. “What is it? Why wouldn't you take the job?”

“Never done this type of work before. I'm used to reading speeches someone else wrote and shaking hands with an even smile. Talking foreign policy with officials twice my age.”  
,  
“Do you miss it?”

Tilde’s face scrunched up in the most adorable way just then. Roxanne booped her nose, as she’d done countless times before, and reminded her one of these days the expression would stick. 

Tilde laughed, then sobered up. “Does it make me a horrible person if I say no?”

Roxanne leaned in conspiratorially until her forehead rested against Tilde’s. “Not a bit,” she whispered.

Jamal eased the door open a crack and peered in to see the women sharing a quiet moment. “I’m sorry I’m interrupting,” he said with a soft smile. The warmth of his love for them radiated from his person as he slipped into the room. “Thought my ladies were asleep. Everything all right?”

Jamal was sensitive to Tilde and Roxanne’s need for privacy and space, so he kept to the perimeter and only stayed long as he needed to grab pajamas and fresh pants for morning. 

Roxanne raised herself onto an elbow to see him better. Her belly was now quite the obstacle; she couldn’t remember how long it’d been since she’d seen her feet. “You sure you don't want us to kip in my room? Give you lads the master?”

“Nah, it's no problem.” Jamal chuckled to himself with a wide grin. “Egg's a big snuggla. He don't try pushing me out the bed or nothing.” Jamal tucked his clothes under his arm and went to the bedside. “Sure you're ok?”

Tilde looked up at him with puffy, red eyes and nodded. She lingered in his gentle goodnight kiss.

Jamal brushed hair out of her face and dropped an additional pair of kisses on her nose. “Love you more than anything.”

Tilde nodded and assured him she felt the same.

Jamal held Tilde’s gaze a moment longer before turning to Roxanne. Seeing her soft expression and strong arms wrapped protectively around his wife, he put his hand to his heart. “And how are you, love?” 

Roxanne smiled up at him easily as the fingers of his other hand carded through her hair. “Tired is all.” It was at Tilde’s discretion when to tell Jamal her decision regarding Kingsman’s job offer.

Tilde cuddled in closer to Roxanne and drew comfort from the scents at her neck. “G’night babe. Pick a recipe from Eggsy’s breakfast list and I’ll make it in the morning, OK?”

Jamal raised an eyebrow. “Does it have to be somethin’ new?”

“Yes,” Roxanne and Tilde reminded him with twin huffs of exasperation.

“Alright, alright. Goodnight, darlings.”

When the door closed behind Jamal, Roxanne lifted Tilde’s chin to meet her eyes. “You’ll be mad not to take that job.”

Tilde refrained from squinching her face, but wrinkles shown at the corners of her eyes. “I know,” she admitted, an inaudible movement of lips and tongue.

“I’m proud of you.”

Tilde closed her eyes against the warmth that flooded her cheeks.

“I won’t take it back,” Roxy said. “Your bakes are brilliant. The freaking _Merlin_ says so, sweetheart. I don’t think you’ll regret giving it a go. But if you want that wannabe wizard to shove it up his arse, I’ll back you with a world dictionary so we can tell him off in forty languages or more. Got that?”

Wearing an expression of amusement, Tilde cocked her head to the side. “You’re a bit extra, you know.”

“It’s the baby,” Roxanne explained with a wince. “I used to be quite normal.”

“I remember.” Tilde smiled. A playful glint flashed through her watery eyes. “I like you both ways, though.”

**~~*~~*~~**

Eggsy threw a few punches to test his vertigo. The room didn’t spin; his stomach didn’t turn. None of the exercise equipment looked like it was rushing toward or away from him through a nauseating tunnel.

Jamal watched Eggsy’s nostrils flare with an inhale before his mate’s eyes narrowed at the punching bag between them. With grunts and huffs, Eggsy landed blows with increased speed and power. He wasn’t where he could be or where he was before injury, Jamal saw, but Eggsy was no longer acting sick of afraid.

They worked hard for two hours - twice the time Eggsy had been able to handle a week ago - then headed for the locker room.

Poppy approached them with a saccharine smile and lilting hello. “Boys, where are you off to so early?”

“Just gettin’ a shower in, mam.”

She hummed, then leaned toward them in a way that could have come across as flirtatious if it didn’t set off all kinds of warning bells in their heads. “You looked great out there, sweetie. Feeling better?”

Eggsy put on a smiled and pretended to be charmed. “Cheers, mam. I’m quite well. Looking forward to the Canterbury Open.”

Jamal’s eyebrows went up at the revelation.

“Gives me two weeks to be ready.”

Though Jamal’s expression immediately turned enthusiastic and supportive, Poppy’s was one of condescending dissent.

“No,” she said, drawing out the vowel in a sweet sing-song. “A lightstrike competition? Honey. What a waste.”

Eggsy spared an amused look at Jamal and earned himself Poppy’s bony fingers curled under his jaw.

“Even first place won’t bring in a thousand pounds.” She studied him. “You have fun with that match. But you're mine, sweetie. I'm… how do you say it… _chuffed_ you're well enough to fight for me again. So you will be _fighting_ for me again.”

Poppy looked over her shoulder, guiding Eggsy's vision to the cage. Inside, Charlie had his knee at Amelia’s throat. She squirmed and snapped at him, resisting defeat. Beyond the ring, on the mats, were others in training.

Eggsy watched his competition face off. He watched them snarl and scent each other with every grapple and hold. In some instances, the sparring was more flirt than fight. Eggsy’s eyes flicked to Poppy. He wondered if she caught on, if she cared. 

The ones here for a bit of fun were paying customers of the gym, he supposed. It was likely she expected nothing more from them than their monthly dues.

With a feral grunt and roll of her spine, Amelia sprang out from Charlie’s hold. 

Poppy’s lips pulled tight over her teeth as her smile spread across her face. “Beautiful!” she called out to her fighter. 

Charlie’s shoulders came forward. Spurred on by Poppy’s praise to Amelia, newly determined to bring the scrimmage to its end, he lunged. 

Eggsy closed his eyes against the sight of Amelia’s face. Only Poppy’s grasp on his chin kept him from cowering. The memory of pain at the hands of Charlie’s newfound strength throbbed fresh at Eggsy’s temples. To see his roommate - former roommate? - at Charlie’s mercy had him weak in the knees.

“Oh you poor thing,” Poppy condescended, petting Eggsy’s cheek with her manicured nails. “How many ways must I say this? It’s not fear I want from you; it’s fight.”

**~~*~~*~~**

Leaning over the plate of treacle tart, mouth full, Merlin looked at Tilde in awe. His glasses slid down his nose, forgotten. “Is this a ruse?”

“Beg your pardon?” Tilde drew herself up with her hands to her hips.

Merlin took another bite, no longer ‘giving it a taste’ but eating the dessert for the delight it brought him. After three bakes, Tilde had demonstrated proficiency, talent, and perhaps luck in the Kingsman kitchen. There was no doubt in Merlin’s mind she had a place here. 

Instead of answering or repeating his rhetorical question, Merlin continued to eat.

“Do take the job, dear,” a voice said from behind them.

Tilde turned to a see a silver-haired man in a sharp suit and eye-patch. His attention was on Merlin, though his words were directed to her. 

“That tart has neither berries nor citrus and he’s nearly devoured the tin.” The corners of his mouth lifted in what wasn’t quite a smile. “I cannot express what high praise that is these days, nor can I tell you how grateful we’d be to fill the case with something other than the flavors I’ve previously mentioned.”

Tilde laughed. “Berries and citrus?” The familiar combination didn’t escape her, but she didn’t let on. “It’s nearly Christmas.”

Merlin glared at the both of them.

“We can add some spice there,” she suggested practically. “Warm it up for the season. What you have out front is lovely. But it’s bright, isn’t it. Summer flavors. Where’s cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice? Clove and nutmeg? Where’s the salted caramel cheesecake with bourbon glaze, eh?” Ok, so maybe she couldn’t censor herself completely.

“So, you’ll take the position?” the suited man said in a way that didn’t truly sound like he was asking. 

A second person had joined him at the doors. “What do you say, Daddy dearest? Ready to share your kitchen before the little one slows you down?”

Tilde saw Merlin’s hand alight his abdomen and swallowed hard. Eggsy hadn't mentioned Merlin was pregnant; she had assumed the roundness of his belly was his usual figure, a result of his work, perhaps. 

She kept her scent from betraying her surprise. Years conferencing with parliamentary representatives yielded more than enough practice. 

Tilde thought about Merlin's age and considered the people she met through her own journey to parenthood. _Was there an alpha in the picture? Or did Merlin, perhaps, choose to have this child on his own?_ There were too many options, scenarios, to consider all at once.

Tilde looked at Merlin's business partners, the men she knew through reputation as Galahad and Percival. No scent of the mated pair lingered on the baker, though a fellowship was obvious among the men in the room. No romantic ties stretched beyond the closeness the pair shared in the door frame.

The baby wasn't theirs.

Merlin’s eyes were on her when Tilde looked up from the swell of his midsection. 

For the first time since working beside the baker, Tilde took notice of the hint of orange in Merlin’s scent. Eggsy, in all of his graphic recounts of his tryst with John and his telephone affair with the man, had never mentioned notes beyond bourbon and vanilla. 

Roxanne had taken on a new scent when she hit her second trimester. It wasn’t quite the pine Tilde loved on Jamal, but definitely woodsy. 

“I’ll accept the job, gladly. If you’re offering,” Tilde said to the room. 

With a short nod, Merlin did just that. “I’ll have paperwork for you in the morning. You can start as soon as you’re able.”

As she shook hands with her new employer, Tilde refrained from a last glance at Merlin’s belly. The babe hadn’t suddenly disappeared; she knew that much. She wondered what Eggsy knew about it, if anything. 

“I’ll be here in the morning," she said with a smile, "ready to work.” 

“As will I,” Merlin replied seriously. 

As he watched the young lady turn to shake hands with his partners before exiting, his mouth twisted in indecision. He wondered if he should call her back, ask her not to tell her friend about his condition. It was his secret to tell. On the other hand, Merlin would almost be relieved to have the word in the open. Wasn’t it easier for someone else to ‘let it slip’?

**~~*~~*~~**


	6. Chapter 6

**~~*~~*~~**

The newborn whimpered in her crib, not quite awake, but never really seeming to sleep - at least not through ‘the evening shift’. Jamal begged his daughter to close her eyes and Eggsy pressed his toe against the leg of the cradle. The gentle nudge sent it rocking in what both men hoped would be a soothing motion.

When the baby settled, they sighed in relief. There would be time to finish cooking before Tilde came home from work. Dinner could be on the table by the time Roxanne woke from her nap.

Jamal worked quickly, dumping frozen meatballs into tomato sauce to simmer. The pot would be easy to keep an eye on as he compulsively tip-toed across the room to check on his girl. 

Eggsy broke a head of lettuce down into a salad and took over the rest, giving his friend a few quiet moments with his daughter.

With dinner all but done, Eggsy stood back. The serving bowl of greens was piled high with the vibrant colors of freshly chopped veg. The kitchen was warm as the meatballs simmered and bread toasted. 

Jamal’s lullaby to Winnie carried through the room, a murmuring that brought a smile to Eggsy’s face.

A weak buzz on the counter woke Eggsy from the room’s spell. His phone screen lit up with an incoming message. And what peace Eggsy had felt was replaced with disappointment.

Jamal’s song died off and his footsteps came closer. 

Behind Eggsy, the oven groaned open and shut as he read the words over again. 

Jamal slid the cutting board away from Eggsy. He was just in time to see the text alert fade to black. “Who was that?” he asked, laying down a round of bread. 

Turning to face Jamal, Eggsy leaned into the counter. “You think I’m in idiot, right?”

“Yeah, mate, of course. One hundred percent. You say you’re an idiot and I support that.” 

Eggsy turned with a sigh and hid his face in his hands.

Jamal kept his eyes down, put the knife to the crusty loaf, and acted like making even cuts took all of his concentration. 

He couldn’t understand why Eggsy and this guy would sleep with each other on a whim at a club, build a relationship over the telephone for weeks… months!... then put off meeting in person.

“Boyfriend problems?” 

Eggsy lifted his shoulder and let it fall. “Not exactly. I dunno.” He didn’t even fight when Jamal referred to Merlin as his boyfriend anymore; it was a losing battle that left him more upset than letting it slide.

Eggsy hated giving Jamal any reason to doubt Merlin's sincerity, but even Eggsy was beginning to wonder at the real reason Merlin was avoiding meeting up. “John says good luck at the fight in Reading. He's not coming to that one either, I guess.”

With the sleeplessness of life as a new dad, Jamal was near begging Eggsy to stop dragging this thing out. “Go over there, bruv.” 

“I want to.” Eggsy scuffed his shoe over the kitchen tile and threw his head back in frustration. “I think I should. But…”

Jamal stilled his knife halfway through the loaf. Eggsy looked serious, worried. “But what?”

Eggsy’s brows came together in deep lines. “I think he’s hiding something.”

Jamal released a hard stream of air steadily through his nose. It was all he could do to keep from pouncing on the accusation and bad-mouthing John out of habit. “Hiding what?” he asked as calmly as he could manage.

“I dunno.” The squeak of Eggsy’s trainers against the floor kept up its fragmented beat. “It’s _hidden_.” 

Jamal looked up at his friend. Creases of worry splayed around Eggsy’s eyes. His lips had been chewed raw under his distress. 

“More reason you should talk to him. Face to face. See what’s going on.”

“Face who?” Tilde asked as she rounded the corner. She wore flour dusted slacks and a tired smile. In her hands were two boxes from Kingsman.

“Eggsy’s boyfriend is cheating on him.”

“He is not!” Eggsy said louder than he wished to. All heads snapped to where the baby was sleeping soundly just across the room. The infant, however, didn’t stir.

Tilde shared in their sighs of relief. She placed the pastries on the kitchen table, kissed her husband hello, and maintained Merlin was neither Eggsy’s boyfriend nor was he cheating on him. 

Jamal placed his hand over Eggsy’s heart with a protective pat.

Tilde lifted the lid off of the larger of the two bakery boxes and grabbed a jaffa cake for each of her boys. “John works and goes home. It’s all very boring, I assure you.” She handed them over. “Eat this.”

Jamal set his aside, as usual, while Eggsy tucked in.

“He hasn’t asked me on a date,” Eggsy mumbled through a mouthful of lingonberry jelly and orange sponge. “I’m fit, yeah? I’m all right, far as blokes go. And we get on, him and me. Why hasn’t he asked me on a date?” 

Tilde caught crumbs from Eggsy’s mouth on her palm and handed him a plate from the table. “Have you asked to take him out?” she asked cautiously.

Scowling, Eggsy broke off the hardened chocolate topping and tried a second, smaller bite of Tilde’s dessert. After swallowing, he responded. “He’s always busy. Our schedules don’t line up.” He placed the jaffa cake on the counter with an opinion, “Like it better without the chocolate. But the orange flavor was nice.”

Tilde took into consideration Eggsy’s remark about the dessert. Merlin hadn’t liked the idea of her messing with the flavors of his jaffa cake. She didn’t want to present her boss with the recipe until she knew it was right. 

From the other box, Tilde brought out another small cake. 

Regarding their conversation about dating Merlin, Tilde asked, “What do you mean your schedules don’t ‘line up’? Are you making assumptions or have you asked?”

Eggsy watched as Tilde placed the next pastry on his dish and frowned. He wished she hadn’t asked. Giving an answer to Tilde’s question would certainly be condemning himself to her wrath. 

Eggsy didn’t want to admit to her that he hadn’t asked Merlin out - not directly. Not because he didn’t want to ask, but because he didn’t want to put pressure on their _friendship_ , no matter how flirtatious it was at times. He’d been scared of a rejection. 

Apart from telling Merlin at which pub he’d be watching football over the weekends or which fights he’d be attending - as an observer and contestant - Eggsy hadn’t had the courage to outright invite the man along. And apart from well wishes of ‘have fun’ and ‘good luck’, Merlin hadn’t expressed any interest in accompanying him.

Eggsy poked at the sticky, palm sized confection on his plate. It oozed with drizzle, yet somehow the sponge held its mounded shape. Eggsy brought his face closer for a sniff and reared back when the small cake overwhelmed his senses. The slap of bitter lemon and little else left Eggsy fearing for Tilde’s job as baker’s apprentice. 

Eggsy carefully placed the plate on the table, trying not to offend the pastry or its creator. “Things going all right at Kingsman, Tilly?”

“Sure. Today was supposed to be an ‘anything goes’ experiment. Of course that turned into more-of-the-same for Merlin.” Tilde laughed. “I thought he was going to lose it when I suggested his bakery selection was repetitive, boring. Instead he went all quiet and serious, told me if I had an opinion to give it needed to be straight at his ear.”

With a roll of her eyes, Tilde took the empty boxes to the rubbish bin. “I think he was trying to be intimidating? Hormones are making that man a nutter. But, swear to God, if I have to spend the holiday without a good Christmas pud, fruit cake, or gingersnap, I’m going to lose my mind.”

Tilde turned to see Eggsy bite into the lemon pudding and pause. Jamal was whispering too close for her to hear.

“That’s why he don’t wanna see you, bruv. Gonna heat soon or something.”

“Everything ok?” Tilde asked, overly cheerful, as she returned to the table. 

Eggsy choked down a glass of water to wash away the bitter lemon and the idea of Merlin in heat.

Tilde apologized for the tartness of the cake. “There’s a blueberry glaze supposed to go on that, but we _somehow_ ran out of them by end of day.”

Keeping what Jamal said to him in confidence, Eggsy joked, “How come I’m your lab rat for these disasters, eh?”

“Because you’re a good sport, you sleep on my couch rent free, and because I don’t want to kiss my husband and taste your scent on his lips.”

Eggsy pulled back with a sneer. “What?”

“The shop’s losing business because of John’s insanity. His obsession with… _you_.”

“The shop, really?” Eggsy wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. A whimper and fuss from across the room had his attention split between Winnie and her parents. “He’s not obsessed with me.”

Jamal looked at the jaffa cake still on the table, recalled the other desserts Tilde had brought home for sampling. Then Winnie’s fussing became more insistent. “C’mon, mate,” Jamal said as the men headed toward the cradle. “He’s completely gone on you.”

Tilde opened the refrigerator for a bottle. “We have customers asking for pumpkin cheesecake, apple crumble tart, toffee pudding, and custard… Merlin won’t make them. Worse, he won’t let me make them anymore. Says they make the baby-” 

Tilde stopped herself short and flushed scarlet. Stumbling over her words, she tried to make things right. It all came out a rushed and garbled mess. “He says they make the _bakery_ nauseous. Smell sick. He says the _smell_ of the _bakery_ makes him _nauseous_.” 

Tilde looked around the room, feeling quite nauseated herself. But instead of listening to her chatter, Jamal and Eggsy were cooing over Winnie at the cradle.

Lifting a soiled swaddle off of the couch, Eggsy gagged. “To be honest, the smell of this flannel might make me nauseous.” He scoured the room for more laundry, scooping up baby clothes and spit up cloths as he went. “I’ll set these to soak and look in on Rox. Give you some family time.”

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten what we talked about,” Jamal whisper-shouted as he held his daughter to his chest. “I’ll take you to Kingsman tomorrow, yeah? Bout time you talk face to face.”

Tilde placed the bottle in a bowl of warm water and froze. _Tomorrow?!_

“Babe, I’m not sure-” For all the frustration caused by Merlin’s resistance to see Eggsy, Tilde still respected Merlin’s right to keep his distance. She was scrambling for some excuse to keep Eggsy and Jamal away from the shop when she saw her husband’s mouth twist in thought.

“Shite, Reading lightstrike,” he grumbled quietly. “Tomorrow’s not gonna work.” 

Jamal looked over at Tilde as he bounced Winnie in his arms. “Not to worry, love. Won’t do nothin’ stupid. Let me know when boss man’s off his cycle though, yeah? I’ll get Eggsy’s arse there sometime in the next week. Set it all to rights.”

Tilde let out the breath she was holding and went to them. 

“Hej skatt,” she said with a tickle to her daughter’s chin and a kiss to her forehead. “Ja alskar dig.” 

Jamal lifted Winnie higher, so her face was turned more fully to his wife. “Love you too, Mummy.”

Tilde tucked herself into Jamal’s shoulder and relaxed into the warm scents of home.

 

**~~*~~*~~**

 

“So, how far along are you?” Tilde rubbed at her tired eyes as she ran dough through the sheeter. Preparing the croissants hypnotised her foggy, brain; she missed Merlin’s answer. 

Winnie had kept her up most of the night, despite Roxanne’s best efforts to keep her fed and quiet. The flat was only so big, the walls only so thick.

Jamal promised to help while Eggsy was out, but somehow the man slept like the dead through the cries at night. Even after being shaken awake, he’d roll over to snore again within a minute. It seemed to take more energy to fight him up than go down the hall herself.

“Sorry, how far did you say?” Tilde folded the dough and passed it through again. 

On the opposite end of the wide table, Merlin poured batter into tins. “Just passed six months.”

 _Six months,_ Tilde repeated to herself. _The whole time he’d been friends with Eggsy, then. Maybe even before their night at Sparks._

“Eggsy probably talking your ear off, yeah?” she said conversationally. “Excited about the baby?” 

“He loves Winifred, yes.”

“Oh, yes, well… I meant, um.” Tilde gestured with a floured hand toward Merlin himself.

“Oh.” Merlin glanced from his abdomen to his workspace and resumed his measurements. “He doesn’t know.”

Suddenly, Tilde’s cheeks burned with embarrassment for her friend, but she said nothing. She had assumed Eggsy would know. _How could Eggsy not know?!_

Confusion turned to rage. It was against Tilde’s nature to allow a good friend such as Eggsy to be strung along by someone who didn’t have the courtesy to tell him they were pregnant. 

Her hands overworked the croissant dough until it became a hot paste in front of her and she had to start again. It didn’t cross her mind until she was rolling her second batch that her anger may have been misplaced.

Maybe John and Eggsy weren’t as close to boyfriends as she thought. Maybe there was someone else who inspired this citrus-berry theme at the bakery. 

“Why haven’t you told him?” Even as she tried for calm, there was bitterness in her question.

Merlin watched his apprentice ruin another batch of croissants and struck them from the morning’s menu. While Merlin could relate to Eggsy surrounding himself with people who were loyal and passionate, Merlin wished to keep things in the kitchen professional. 

“Perhaps this conversation is better spoken after hours.”

Tilde put her palms to the table in defiance, sending plumes of flour up around her like smoke. There was no heavy slam of fists, no raised voice, no snarl. But her look could have leveled a fortress.

Merlin nodded to himself as he gathered his thoughts. “How could I tell him? Over the phone?” 

Tilde closed and opened her scratchy, dry eyes, trying to hold her stare and huffing in frustration as Merlin paced. “I didn’t mean to pry-”

“I wanted to meet him first. That such a terrible thing?”

“What?”

“I wouldn’t count my outburst when you lot came in a fair how-do-ye-do.”

“What?”

“I know.” Merlin rubbed at this lower back as he walked the length of the room. “We should have met by now. We hit it off over the phone and what we have is…” Merlin frowned when Tilde thought he was going to smile.

“What?”

“Wonderful. I meant to tell him I was pregnant, but each day it gets harder to say ‘Hey, mate, fancy a night out? Rather not go for drinks as I got knocked up by a stranger several months ago.’”

Tilde looked on him with a stiff upper lip. Though words were failing her, she thought she could understand his fear. If it had been anyone else, Tilde would agree Merlin’s anxieties toward telling such news to a potential boyfriend were justified. But this was Eggsy. And she knew he was the best sort of man. If there was anyone who would offer Merlin support through this, it was him.

“I dinnae need your pity, lass.”

Tilde stood up straighter and fixed her expression. “You won’t get any from me. And you’ll find Eggsy is more a gentleman than you give him credit. You play at knights and kings here, but he would show you true chivalry if given the chance.”

Merlin’s face fell. “What if I cannae give it in return.”

Tilde’s brow furrowed in confusion, ready to jump to her friend’s defense.

“The truth is, the night this little one was conceived, I had a moment where I knew I had found someone special. And maybe the special part of them was to give me this,” his hand went to his abdomen. “But that _feeling_ hasn’t left my heart. I need to find the bairn’s father before I can move on to anyone else.”

To Tilde, it sounded like Merlin was confessing to being in love with someone else. Knowing Eggsy had been falling hard and fast for John since Day 1, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep her lips from trembling. This wasn’t what she was hoping to hear, especially not on a day she was running on less than two hours of sleep. This was supposed to be a good day; a find-out-what’s-eating-Merlin and make-Eggsy-happy day. 

Merlin caught the heartbreak in Tilde’s eyes and had to look away. His tensed as emotion rose in his throat. “When I know for certain there’s nothing between the pup’s father and I. When I can finally move on from the man who left me without a _word_ or _number_ or _anything_ but a broken condom and a miracle baby I won’t give up for anything, then I’ll tell Eggsy everything.”

Tilde regained her composure with a sniff. “What if we help you find this guy?” 

Even if Galahad and Percival had helped Merlin in his search, Tilde insisted the addition of four internet savvy folks couldn’t hurt.

Merlin’s chest rose and fell heavier than before. “I’ve been looking since the first test came back positive. Before then, even. You have to know, because he’s your friend and because it’s the truth… I _like_ Eggsy. Really, I do. But this other man. He smelled perfect,” Merlin said with a gesture to the myriad bowls of berries and citrus on the table, “and now nothing else does. It should make sense to Harry and Michael, but they pretend it doesn’t.”

The confession had Tilde almost sputtering. _So, there really_ was _a guy with Eggsy’s scent?!_ She watched Merlin wipe at his eyes and decided to give him a moment before saying anything more.

Merlin rinsed and dried a sieve of cloudberries. He took a few in a pinch and tossed them into his mouth. Though he winced at their tart flavor, he poured the rest of the fruit into a bowl. 

“When the muffins come out of the oven, I need ye to jam this up for filling.” 

Tilde nodded as Merlin set the bowl next to her. His lips puckered at another mouthful of berries, a mix of cloud, rasp, and cran. Tilde’s heart ached at his attempts to achieve the sweet tart balance for which he desperately yearned. 

“I take walks in the park every chance I get,” Tilde offered. “Prefer the woods, if I can make a trip.” She wore a wistful look of sympathy that wasn’t for show. “Hell, I live with my man and I still can’t get enough of pine.”

Merlin nodded and returned her smile. “Thank you for understanding. I’m afraid finding him may be a lost cause. Whatever _sparks_ we had at that club,” he gave a mirthless chuckle, “maybe Gary never felt them at all.”

Tilde couldn’t help but choke on air at Eggsy’s given name. “Merlin… John…” There was too much that wasn’t hers to say. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears of exhaustion, relief, and joy. “We’re gonna find him. Just tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”

**~~*~~*~~**


	7. Chapter 7

**~~*~~*~~**

Roxanne’s fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard as she gave a forced, professional “ha ha ha” over her headset. 

Tilde dropped her purse by the desk and squeezed her friend’s shoulder as she passed. The laugh was a familiar one. Since Roxanne started working from home, Tilde had seen her on conference calls with all sorts of clients. It seemed the majority of them needed their egos stroked, constantly. 

Leaving Roxanne to business, Tilde dropped a box of baked goods in the kitchen and headed further into the apartment. It was in the short hallway that she heard the small cries of her daughter and Eggsy’s gentle, patient humming.

She pushed on the door to the nursery, peeking in. 

Eggsy smiled over his shoulder from where he bounced Winnie in a patch of sunlight. “How was your day?” 

“Interesting,” Tilde grinned as she folded her arms and leaned into the doorframe, “to say the least.”

“Yeah? Little mystery looks good on you, Tilly.” 

Not being the sole garner of attention for all of thirty seconds had Winnie starting up again.

Tilde stepped forward. “I can take her,” she said, kissing her daughter’s hands and face even as the baby scowled, grunted, and punched. “Is she hungry?”

Eggsy’s phone buzzed on the chair, but he paid no mind to it. 

“Just ate. Was trying to let it settle some before giving a bath. The warm water has been helping with her gas pains.” 

“I can handle that.”

“I don’t mind, if you’d rather wash up and relax a bit.”

“Nah.” Tilde scrunched her nose as she lifted her girl into her arms. “Missed my love.”

Eggsy’s phone buzzed again. This time Tilde watched Eggsy actively ignoring it.

“Has John been in touch? He mentioned wanting to talk to you this morning, but after the rush I didn’t hear about it again.” That wasn’t true. Merlin had been asking all shift if he had done something to offend Eggsy. Tilde had insisted their friend was probably busy training or doing odd jobs for Poppy. But to see Eggsy avoiding his phone was concerning.

“Dean wants me in for a job; Poodle and his dogs won't shut up about it. And Charlie’s in the lists for my next fight.” Eggsy’s fists digged deep into his pockets as he rocked onto his heels. “Neither one is going to be easy. But payout on both could be worth it.”

“Eggsy, we don’t want you getting hurt again.”

Eggsy huffed through his nose and curled his lip. “Maybe Gazelle will have given birth by then. Hope for small miracles, at least.”

“You’ll be waiting on a pup of your own one day, Eggsy,” Roxanne said from the hall. “Then Charlie and the others won’t know what hit them.”

“Yeah. Right.” Eggsy scuffed his toe into the carpet. “Not really reason to have a kid.”

Tilde smiled. “But you do want a kid, don't you?”

“‘Course. Princess Stinky only made me more sure of that.”

This time, when Eggsy’s phone sounded, it gave a series of vibrations. 

Tilde watched Eggsy frown at John's picture lighting up his phone. 

“Now who's keeping secrets?” she asked.

“Don’t want him to worry,” Eggsy admitted as he made his way to the chair. “Don’t want to lie to him neither.”

“I know, sweetheart.” Tilde soothed. “But until this part of your life gets sorted, John can’t be in the dark forever.”

“Sorted? You make it sound like I have better options.”

Roxanne scoffed with an arched brow. “Don’t you?”

**~~*~~*~~**

Merlin set his mobile on the end table and sat back. Fidgeting with the dormant phone got him nowhere. His favorite armchair provided little comfort. The warm chamomile failed to calm his nerves. He’d been practicing yoga breathing to reduce his heart rate for some time now and yet he still felt like a wire pulled too tight.

A thought crossed his mind to send Eggsy a message informing him of everything: the pregnancy, the absent alpha, the search. To put it out in the open after all this time tip-toeing tempted him in ways it hadn’t before Tilde entered his kitchen and discovered the truth.

Fear of confession without acknowledgement pushed the thought aside each time it reached the forefront of Merlin’s mind. 

The small clock over the fireplace mantle struck 2:00AM and Merlin turned on the television. He had long since given up on sleep.

**~~*~~*~~**

The purse for second place wasn’t a hefty one, but it would cover Eggsy’s back rent.

After Eggsy paid his former roommates, they were allowing him to pack up his own belongings and properly move out, but not reclaim his spot.

Eggsy glared at Charlie as he counted his winnings. His split lip stung as it lifted in an annoyed snarl. It was his second lightstrike competition in as many weeks and he was still getting knocked around. He’d do all right in the end, sure. But the rounds shouldn’t be so close.

Grabbing Jamal, Eggsy shouldered their way through the crowd toward the door.

“You must like the wait,” Jamal shouted over the cacophony of competitors and attendees also headed for the exit. Jamal wagged his finger like an accusation. “You like the chase or somethin’.” 

Eggsy rolled his eyes. He hoped to be strategizing for the next competition. He needed to figure out what was holding him back. All Jamal, Tilde, and Roxanne seemed to want to do the past few days was talk about John. “Ain’t no wait or chase to be had, bruv. Already had sex with him, remember?”

“Yeah, but there’s something.”

“Somethin’, sure. Somethin’ he’s been hiding from me.” Eggsy swallowed hard as the crowd pushed in on them. “Secret’s grown bigger each day. Since I cleaned up that run for Dean… I can feel it, bruv. Even when I try talking to him, he's not telling me all.”

Finally, the door of the gym led them onto the street. Eggsy squinted against the glare of afternoon sun reflecting off the cars. He slipped on a pair of tinted glasses and waited in trepidation for a headache that didn’t come. “Maybe he’s seeing somebody else. We never labeled anything, never went on a date. What if he don’t really like me like that.”

Eggsy wrapped his arms about his chest against the chill, rubbing the bruise forming at his ribs. “He’s a bloke goes sleeps around,” he said under his breath. “What if he-”

Jamal stopped him there. “You both slept with a stranger that night.” 

Eggsy let Jamal’s hand on his shoulder turn him toward his friend and reluctantly met his eyes. 

“Yeah, but I slept with him because he smelled perfect, bruv.” 

With a shake of his head, Eggsy reminded himself to be grateful. “I got what we have now. Whatever it is, it’s fun, innit? It doesn’t hurt none to keep up like this.” 

Jamal’s mouth twisted as he listened to Eggsy contradict himself. “Don’t it though?”

**~~*~~*~~**

Tilde closed out her conversation with an ‘xox’ to her husband and pocketed her phone. She needed a moment’s pause and a deep breath of preparation before pushing through the double doors to the Kingsman kitchen and starting her shift. There was more than baking on her docket today.

She and Jamal had talked about this: the dangers of matchmaking, how full their plates were already without adding a heartbroken Eggsy to the mix. But they wanted their friend happy and they wouldn't know if Merlin was worth the stress unless they took the chance.

“So,” she said, stepping up to Merlin's workstation and throwing caution to the wind. “How is it going?”

“Sales have picked up with your suggested additions. Galahad and Percival are on my case about decorating for the season.”

“And Eggsy?”

“I don’t think we should be talking about him, lass.” 

Tilde weighed sugar for biscuits. “He asks about you. Hasn’t mentioned the salted caramel cake in ages, but he asks how you’re doing each day.”

“Funny that; he doesn’t ask me.” 

“I’m sorry. He's been helping with the baby. Has other family things going on that are best to come from him, you know?” 

Merlin kept his head down to his work as he asked, “Did ye tell him about...”

Tilde stretched her hand across the table. She wasn't close enough to reach his station, but it got him to look at her. “I didn’t.”

“Would that ye had.” 

The look she gave Merlin was just a hair behind disappointment. She held back for the look of pain coming through Merlin's eyes.

“Planned to tell him about the bairn in person. I did. I do.”

“If you’d like to see him… run into him by chance… he’s fighting again. You could go to a competition.”

“Gym of hypermasculine alphas? Doesn't appeal to me in my state or with my heart set on-” He turned back to the oven to hide his blush.

Tilde added butter, eggs, and vanilla to the sugar and let them cream. “Eggsy's fallen pretty hard for you, you know. Been that way a while now.”

“It shows,” Merlin deadpanned as he all but let the oven door slam. He excused himself from the kitchen with barely a grunt of apology. 

Afraid she was making things worse between Eggsy and Merlin with every word, Tilde the opportunity to call Jamal while she was alone. “I'm jumping to Phase 3.”

She waited until she and Merlin were seated for a late lunch to move forward with the plan, which in hindsight, may not have been the best idea.

“John?” Tilde asked as she opened a thermos of soup.

“I know it’s silly,” he answered, “but ye really are supposed to call me Merlin at work.” 

“Sorry, it’s not _work_ related.” The single serving package of crackers crinkled between her fingers. “And I don’t think it's something that should wait.”

Merlin put down his sandwich and took a deep breath. “What is it?”

“Is there a day next week-” the crackers broke and crumbled within their wrapper “-a day that works best for you to meet up with Gary?” Tilde looked up from her hands and held her breath.

Merlin took in the twitch of Tilde’s jaw and the way the vein stood out at her temple as she waited on an answer. His heart raced. He felt nauseous. 

Pushing himself from the corner table, Merlin blinked around the shop. His vision swam, but landed on his partners behind the counter. Percival and Harry were watching him; they knew. 

Merlin swallowed in an attempt to stave off the rising threat of nausea, but he had no luck. 

Tilde watched with a empathic frown as Merlin excused himself to the kitchen. When he returned she had a paper towel, glass of water, and cup of broth waiting.

“Cheers, lass,” he muttered, accepting her offerings. He glared at Harry as he took a sip of water.

“Sorry to spring it on you.” Tilde dug in her purse for another package of crackers and brought out two that hadn’t turned to dust. She placed them beside Merlin’s soup. “I thought it was best to rip the plaster quickly.”

Merlin nodded in appreciation for the lunch Tilde had set out, but stuck with water. He didn’t speak another word until they had returned to the kitchen.

Piping an army of macarons for a wedding order kept Merlin’s hands busy, but it was mindless work.

“You found him,” Merlin said as Tilde took a tray to the racks. “How?”

“There’s a Gary.” Tilde took her time moving around the kitchen. “Had a night that matches your description, with a man that matches your look, and…” 

She paused at the giant mixers, safely across the room. One wonderful thing about the bakery was how difficult it was for anyone to catch any emotion on scent alone. “You want to meet up with him. Don’t you?”

Silence took Merlin again. He immersed himself in macaron assembly. 

Without need for invitation or instruction, Tilde made sure there were enough fillings and icings so her boss could work uninterrupted. 

At the end of the day, when everything was boxed and tidied, Tilde assured him this one thing. “If you’re worried about Eggsy, you need not be. He only wants what’s best for the people around him.” 

Merlin took his coat from the rack, knotted and unknotted his scarf. “What if Gary and I are…” His sentence trailed off as Percival entered the kitchen from the main shop. 

“Eggsy’s a true gentleman,” Tilde said, ignoring their company. She chanced a gentle touch to Merlin’s arm. “Despite how his actions this week have come across. Old fashioned romantic as well.” 

She took a breath to steady her voice, sure if she didn’t it would betray how much she wanted the plan to work out. “I’m sure if you fell in love with the father of your child, he’d be fit to burst, OK?” Tilde knew she was pushing it, perhaps giving too much away. 

“We can do it here,” Percival assured carefully from the doorway. Galahad and I close at hand. You won’t be alone.” 

Tilde and Percival exchanged a measured look. 

Then Tilde faced Merlin again. “You let me know when you’re ready to meet him. And I’ll set it up.”

**~~*~~*~~**

Eggsy sighed in frustration and relief as he spotted his phone under the locker room bench. Wiping his hands on the rag at his waist, he lifted his phone from the floor. His side ached as he straightened up, but the pain disappeared as he stared at the message he’d received.

**_I should tell ye. I'm pregnant. Should have told ye at the start._ **

Eggsy read that over and wondered what start Merlin meant by ‘at the start’. Had he been pregnant when they’d slept together? Or had John been seeing someone else since then? 

Another option spread in the back of Eggsy’s mind. It swooped into his chest and filled his stomach with fluttering before he gave the thought a label.

Eggsy looked at the time stamp and swore. 

Merlin picked up after the first ring.

“Just saw it. Swear down, gov, I wasn't ignoring you. Would have called right away if I hadn't been elbow deep in loo bends the past two hours.”

“It's all right.” 

“Are you, though? All right? Is the baby healthy? How long have you known? Shite, I'm an arse, John. I've been so caught up with… it doesn't matter.” Eggsy kicked at the wheel of his cart and mop water sloshed on his shoe. “Do you need anything? Can I see you?”

“Don't know which question I should answer first.”

Eggsy huffed an embarrassed laugh. “More of an in person conversation, I guess.”

Merlin released a heavy sigh. “Eggsy,” he said, voice thick, “I'm meeting with the alpha tomorrow to break the news.”

“Wh-” Eggsy deflated and something sharp twisted in his chest; it didn’t feel like his slipped rib. “Break news?” He swallowed. “Ain't it a happy time? Baby’s a gift… innit?”

“For me, aye. This babe is the greatest gift I've been given. But for the man I slept with once and never heard from again, I cannae be sure he'll view an unplanned pregnancy the same way.”

Eggsy hung his head, mad at himself that his first thoughts now were of Jamal. Jamal was going to hate John again, even when Eggsy didn’t. 

John liked dancing and variety. Eggsy wouldn’t hold that against his friend; they’d never promised each other anything that would suggest he should.

Though it broke his heart to wish Merlin love in someone else’s arms, Eggsy offered his best regards. “I hope he's good to the both of ya, bruv. Mean it. And y'know I'm here for you.”

“I wish I'd met ye first, Eggsy.” 

Eggsy thought he sounded scared. He tried to blame his own trouble breathing on the injuries he sustained in the ring.

“I'm sorry, lad.”

Merlin waited on the line for a minute before hanging up.

**~~*~~*~~**

“I gotta pick up Tilde. She needs help with some pre-holiday delivery thing.” Jamal announced when Eggsy noticed they were headed the opposite direction from home. “You coming with?”

“Not to Kingsman I ain’t. Not today.” Eggsy crossed his arms over his chest as he sat, but with Jamal driving them across town he didn’t have much say in where they were going or when. “Don’t they have a van or somethin’?”

Jamal gave Eggsy’s shoulder a light shake. “C’mon, mate. You cash in on that free lunch; I keep my promise to Tilde. This is win-win stuff here.”

“John’s meeting with the father of his kid. I can’t...“

“That’s today, huh?”

Eggsy rolled his eyes. 

“Well, it’s just that you said John was meeting the guy Wednesday, but then-”

“The arsehole didn’t show up!”

“Right. The arsehole didn’t show up. And you wouldn’t come to see if John was OK because…”

“C’mon, mate. Ya know it's not like I can say no to Dean - what is this? An inquisition?”

“What happens if the guy John’s expecting stands him up again, eh? You gonna let him go through that alone? Again?”

“Why does it have to be today? I smell like sanitiser and bleach.”

“I think,” Jamal tried not to wrinkle his nose as he fibbed, “you smell fresh and clean.”

They approached Kingsman Bakery and passed it, but before Eggsy could breathe his relief, Jamal found parking. 

“You really have no idea what you're asking me to do,” Eggsy said, not making a move to unfasten his seatbelt.

Jamal pressed the clip for Eggsy and allowed himself a satisfied smirk when the belt caught his friend’s chin. 

“ _You_ have no idea,” Jamal responded with sincerity, “how much it’ll mean to him that you show up today.” 

Eggsy shifted in the car, but couldn’t get a good look through the display window. Ever the pillar of chivalry, Jamal was quick to get the door and give Eggsy a hand up to the curb.

Standing at the storefront, Eggsy picked Merlin out immediately. Even among the late lunch crowd, he was the only one who caught Eggsy’s eye. A small smile grew on Eggsy’s lips as he watched his friend prepare his tea. But it fell when Merlin lifted his head. 

Merlin looked worn, worried. His gaze drifted over the other tables before settling on the empty seat across from him. 

Eggsy’s fragile resolve teetered. “I can't be here. I should go.”

Jamal held him by the shoulders. “Ya should go _in._ ”

“Jamal. Bruv.” Eggsy straightened his jacket as Jamal led him toward the entrance. 

“C'mon.”

Bells sounded over the door, announcing their entry. As if already without hope, Merlin remained staring into his cup.

After a nudge, Eggsy found Tilde stood waving behind the counter. Eggsy took two steps toward her then turned to Jamal. “You know what? Go help Tild. I-” Without bothering to explain himself, Eggsy cut took off with long strides across the shop.

So focused he was on Merlin's hunched posture, he nearly ran head-on into a man with a tray. 

“Shite, sorry, bruv.” Eggsy read their name badge ‘Percival’ but had always felt funny using strangers’ names when they didn’t know his. “Did I ruin it?”

“Not at all.” Percival smiled as he placed the muffin back on its bottom. “You came in with Lancelot’s husband?”

Eggsy’s mouth stood open. “Uh, what? Lancel- sure.”

“So, you’re Gary, then,” Percival said like it wasn’t a question.

“Yeah.” Extending his hand out of habit and waiting for Percival to balance the tray one-handed for a shake, he introduced himself more casually. “Can call me Eggsy; that’s fine too.”

“Well.” Percival released a sigh. “Will you bring this over to our Merlin? Trust that’s where you were heading, yes?”

Nodding, Eggsy accepted the dishes indicated and made his way to the small table in the corner.

 

From the sales counter Tilde and Jamal looked on with rising hope, until Percival rounded back scowling.

Tilde thought fast as her boss made his approach. “Did you bring Eggsy here straight after work?”

Jamal hesitated. This felt like a trick question. “...Yeah?”

“Please tell me the reason you're late is because you had him shower. Tell me you made him scrub clean within an inch of his life.”

“Not exactly,” Jamal responded sounding regretful. “But he is clean. _Technically._ The old bird had him bleaching the tiles.”

Jamal was shrinking under Tilde’s glare when Percival reached the counter. “Dear God, why does your man smell like an airline toilet?”

“Listen, he's a good bloke. There's no doubt he knows his way around a bog, but your Merlin knew that day one. Didn't seem to mind the smell their first go-around. Maybe it won't be so bad.”

Plercival couldn't have looked less impressed. “You can't be serious.” 

“Maybe John will, y’know, _find_ Egg’s scent under the…” Jamal could see he couldn’t talk his way out of this. “Yeah, no. This will probably crash and burn.”

“Or maybe they’ll surprise us.” 

Jamal startled to see a second man had joined them for the spectacle. Before he could ask who the suited gentleman was, Jamal’s attention was directed to the queue of customers in wait. 

Work made it difficult for the group to get a good look at what was happening at Merlin's table. But Jamal kept look out for fainting, shouting, and storming out. 

He held out a thumb to the others. “So far so good.”

 

The first thing Eggsy noticed, when he stepped up behind Merlin’s table, was that he smelled like an Old Fashioned. 

There weren’t many drinks Eggsy enjoyed. He mainly stuck to tea, beer, and the occasional fizzy. But there was no doubt in Eggsy’s mind that the Old Fashioned would be Eggsy’s favorite scent and drink for the foreseeable future.

Eggsy shook his mind clear. He didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, probably worrying patrons around him. 

Wetting his lips, he took the last steps to Merlin’s side. “Hey, gov, how ya feeling?”

Merlin looked up at the sound of a familiar voice. 

“May I sit with ya? I know you’re waiting for someone and I don’t wanna frighten them off, but-”

“If they’re scared off by me having tea with a friend then I don’t need them in my life.”

Eggsy took the empty seat. “You ok?”

Merlin shrugged. “Second time no show. I just, didn’t think it would be like this. He seemed a good man.”

Bitterness spiked in Eggsy's heart. “Better than me?” He couldn't believe he had the audacity to say such a thing.

Merlin blinked, and Eggsy had never felt more embarrassed or ashamed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.” Briefly hiding his head in his hands, Eggsy kicked himself. “Bollocks.” 

“Gov, I did not mean to come here and make this hard on you.” Eggsy peered out between the spaces of his fingers and slowly slid them off his face. 

Merlin’s scent rose. Feelings of want, need, and home flooded Eggsy's veins. 

“By God, you smell so fucking good, John.” As soon as the words were past his lips, Eggsy knew it was the wrong time to say them. 

Merlin's expression twisted and so did the knot that had been growing in Eggsy's stomach since the day Merlin gave him the news.

Eggsy felt his cheeks flush scarlet as Merlin looked away. 

Eggsy threw himself into an apology. “I know today is important. And I’m sorry I’m cocking it up.” Then he caught a small movement. “Are you… Sorry, are you laughing at me?”

“It’s just-” Merlin turned a friendly smile on him to soften the truth. “You compliment my scent and though I'd like to do the same, you smell-” He exaggerated his grimace. “What _is_ that smell?”

Eggsy gave his clothes a sniff, though he knew most of the chemicals lingered on his hands, hair, and shoes. “Uline and Lysol, mostly.”

“Ah.” Merlin rubbed at his nose fruitlessly. His shoulders continued to bounce with his silent laughter.

“And that’s funny? You think me working like-”

“No! No. Hearing your voice and seeing your face unmarred by the fights...” Merlin's smile relaxed into something deeply genuine. 

After a drink, Merlin started up again. “Unfortunately, I was going off my sense of smell to make sure the alpha is who he says. But I believe you may have killed my nose for the day.”

Eggsy nicked a walnut from the edge of the muffin. “Oh, so I _have_ ruined the day. Well, good. Mission accomplished then. Think that makes us 100% success rate.”

Merlin smiled over his cup as he took another sip. The bell rang and Eggsy followed Merlin’s gaze to the door.

“Well, I’m gonna go.” Eggsy said as he stood. “Really, I didn't come to mess this up for you.” He gave Merlin’s arm a light squeeze. “Call me later, OK?”

Merlin stood as well. “Thank ye for coming today.”

Before Merlin could offend him by putting out his hand for a shake, Eggsy spoke up. “I know that I’m disgusting. And _the worst_ at words. But, with your permission, I’d really like to give you a hug.” 

The bakery continued business around them as they stepped into waiting arms, but once in the embrace, they only noticed each other.

Scared to turn his face to Merlin's neck but more afraid that he'd never again get the chance, Eggsy curled his hands into fists behind Merlin's back and closed his eyes. 

He was about to pull away, long before he was ready, when he felt Merlin take the leap he hadn't. Merlin's stubble grazed his neck and Eggsy trembled, then stilled. 

Merlin felt Eggsy’s heart race against his own as they stood chest to chest. He turned in Eggsy's arms and sought a scent that wasn't ammonia or artificial lavender. What Merlin found, at the crook of Eggsy's shoulder, left him speechless.

As Merlin’s nose dragged on his skin, there wasn't much Eggsy could say to himself to talk himself out of scenting Merlin in return.

Selfishly, he turned his face to Merlin's collar and inhaled. Immediately, he was struck by feelings of possessiveness toward Merlin and the child. But he had been expecting that. Eggsy's past dictated he'd always want to take the role of protector for those he loved.

Eggsy reminded himself the pup's alpha could be one of the good ones, like he'd seen in Tilde and Jamal. Hell, even Charlie seemed to take proper care of Gazelle - even if he was a prick at the gym. _Besides_ , he told himself as his hands smoothed up Merlin's back, _Merlin would never let someone hurt his pup._

Reluctantly, Eggsy began to release his hold. Merlin’s breath was coming quicker, shuddering, and Eggsy’s noticed his neck felt hot and damp. Eggsy pulled back slightly and saw the tears in Merlin’s eyes.

“That bad?” Eggsy asked, with a touch of self-deprecating humor. 

Merlin lifted his hand to Eggsy’s neck and felt the strength of his pulse under his thumb. “I don’t understand.”

The thunk and clatter of plate and silverware being placed on their table alerted them to Harry's presence. “Someone leaving?”

“Oh,” Eggsy began with a glance back and saw Merlin looking stunned. “I was heading out so John could-” 

“Oh lovely, you think the names are silly, too.” Harry wore a satisfied smirk. “Sit down, Gary. We made this bloody cheesecake especially for you.”

“Is it the-” Eggsy didn't miss a beat and sat down to take a closer look. “Salted caramel with bourbon-” He looked up at the baker with wide eyes and an even wider smile. 

“Merlin!” Eggsy wouldn't have called him that if not for the other man's snark. And he hoped a laugh would snap him out of whatever daze he had fallen into. “You shouldn’t’a done. This is amazing.” After gawping at it from all angles, Eggsy sat back with an expression of unrestrained gratitude. “Thank you.”

Still, Merlin stared with his head cock and his eyebrows low.

“Too eager to please,” Harry assessed Eggsy aloud. “You haven't yet taken a bite.” 

Eggsy glared at the well-dressed waiter person and gave a jerk of his chin to clue him in to the reason behind his theatrical enthusiasm. Not that he wouldn't be thrilled for some cake any other day.

Harry looked over to where Merlin was still standing in silence. He guided Merlin to be seated, whispered at his ear, then asked the table, “Can I get you anything else?”

Merlin shook his head no.

“How about you, Gary?” Harry repeated the name so Merlin would be sure he heard correctly. “Everything all right?”

“Fine, cheers.” After the man left, Eggsy caught Merlin's gaze. “You feeling ok?”

Merlin blinked at Eggsy, looked into his eyes and saw what he couldn't before. Merlin saw what he'd told himself couldn't be true. It had been dark that night. He'd been drinking. But Merlin was sure, now. “It's you.”

“Yeah, it's me.” Eggsy chuckled. “Wait, what do ya mean?”

“You're Gary. From Sparks?” Merlin's hands settled on his belly where he would swear he could feel the baby move. “Why didn't ye tell me?”

“I…” Eggsy squinted at Merlin in disbelief, “thought you knew.”

Merlin shook his head slowly, remembering the perfect scent of Eggsy’s skin. 

Before Eggsy could get too wound up in his own confusion, Merlin set to finish clearing the air. “Did ye mean what ye said: a baby's a gift?”

The question stunned Eggsy and the full weight of the day landed on him at once. 

“Yeah, gov.” Eggsy sat forward in his chair as his heart leapt into his throat. He struggled to swallow. “None better.”

Eggsy looked from Merlin’s soft eyes to the swell of his stomach and breathed in the silence that had enveloped them. “How far along are you?”

Merlin reached his hand across the table and Eggsy reached back.

Readying himself to support Merlin in whatever he needed and not feeling ready for anything at all, Eggsy asked, “What are ya not saying, John? It’s mine?” 

The quiet stretched between them until tears fell from Merlin’s eyes. Eggsy laced their fingers together and brought them to his lips. 

Eggsy gently cleared his throat as he brought their joined hands to the table. “John, I know it's been a while, and there's so much we need to discuss, but I'd like to dance with ya again.”

Merlin glanced furtively around the shop. “Here?”

“No.” Eggsy peppered Merlin's hand with kisses as he spoke. “I'd like to take you out. On a date. Many dates. Much dancing.”

Wiping his eyes as they refilled, Merlin accepted the invitation. He brushed his fingers over Eggsy's lips. “I’ve missed ye.”

Eggsy whispered into Merlin's touch, “I’ve been right here.”

**~~*~~*~~**


	8. Chapter 8

Warm ups were always _interesting_. Alphas grappling, on the verge of groping. Snarling and snuffing at each other - a struggle for dominance at the surface of the fights, an undercurrent of arousal through some. 

And that was another reason Eggsy was happy not to be attracted to alphas. There was little to no chance of him being distracted by arousal during a fight, no matter how thick his opponent pushed their pheromones. 

If Merlin had stepped into the ring with him, however. 

The paper cup of tea cooled in his hands as Eggsy waited for Jamal, reminding Eggsy he’d had his daily visit to Kingsman and wouldn’t see or hold his mate for hours. Sitting in the short row of bleachers that overlooked the mats Eggsy closed his eyes. He took a sip of his drink: Earl Grey. Not nearly hot enough anymore, but Merlin had gotten the sugar just right, as always. 

Eggsy remembered Merlin’s puckish smile each time Eggsy took the first tentative sip of tea or taste of a new confection, the smell of him after a shower, the taste of his sleep warm skin, the way his body moved against his as they danced, how his body moved around his as they made love.

Leaning back against the wall gave him the appearance of a man at rest. But behind his eyes, Eggy’s mind was hard at work. Drawing inspiration from experience and imagination, graphic details played out like a reel of film. Eggsy wet his lips at the thought of what he’d do with Merlin the next time they were given a chance. 

The gym echoed with the thuds of punches and kicks landing against flesh and vinyl. Those, accompanied by the grunts of the fighters, hardly helped the growing situation in Eggsy’s shorts. Strategically placed wrapped hands and cup would hide his lap a while. 

Excitement for their pup’s arrival was mounting, but that was a mixed bag of joy and anxiety. And with it came John’s exhaustion, aching back, and swollen joints. 

Eggsy allowed himself a small smile. He looked forward to falling deeper in love with his pup and partner alike. 

Today’s fight was important; a chance to prove himself. His muscles were itching for it. To get back in the ring with Charlie, after all this time, twisted his stomach in a thrill. 

There had been a change after Eggsy scented his child the first time. Eggsy had felt it in training and couldn’t wait to put his new strength and agility to the test against another father-to-be.

Eggsy had discovered the change by accident, that day in Kingsman, when Jamal had rushed to him and Merlin for congratulatory hugs. A simple stumble, easily forgiven. But when Jamal tripped into Merlin and knocked him into the back of the chair, Eggsy felt his muscles coil and twitch with a speed and strength he’d never experienced before. The need to _protect_ his unborn child had surged through his veins.

Eggsy remembered not being able to leave Merlin’s side for the rest of the day. He’d waited for Merlin to finish out his shift at the bakery. Then eagerly Eggsy had taken Merlin home, lazed with him on the couch, and decorated his mate with kisses. Eggsy remembered moving to the bedroom. He remembered the promises they made to each other in the dark.

 

Jamal approached Eggsy’s quiet corner with a scowl. The smell of sweat and arousal was nauseating though not unfamiliar at the gym. He scuffed his shoe against Eggsy’s white trainer to wake up his friend. “Did ya even fuckin’ shower, mate?”

Eggsy’s blush was immediate and dark. “Got caught up thinking.”

“I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“Ya ever have sex with Rox while she were pregnant?”

“What?” Jamal refrained himself from trapping his hand over Eggsy’s mouth. “No! Are you mad?”

“Geez, I was askin’ a question, not being weird.”

“Bruv, with you those things have never been mutually exclusive.” Jamal grabbed Eggsy up to his feet and dragged him toward the locker room. “Don’t go easy on him.”

“What?” That was the opposite advice Eggsy expected to get from his friend in regard to bedroom activities with a pregnant partner.

Jamal rolled his eyes as he pushed Eggsy through the swinging door. “On Charlie, you nob. He can smell you’re mated. He’ll be in this for blood.”

“That’s insane. He’s an asshole not a killer.”

****~**~****

“Hey, Charlie.”

“Heard the good news, Eggy.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t have to hold back on ya anymore.”

“Don’t think you ever held back on anyone, Charlie. Ain’t that right? Even when ya knew you could win with less?”

Charlie shrugged. “Don’t think I know what you mean. All is fair in the ring.”

“That’s _not_ at all accurate,” Jamal argues. “There are _rules_! _Regulations_! Committees got together, mate, and decided lists of things that ain’t _fair_ in the-”

“Jamal. Knock it off. He’s just trying to get a rise outta ya. And doing a good job at it too.” Eggsy pushed Jamal back with a frown. 

Charlie sauntered off past them, laughter on his lips. 

Smoothing Jamal's jacket, Eggsy regarded his friend with concern. Jamal was supposed to be the calm one, encouraging and boosting Eggsy before the fight, not the other way around. “What’s the matter?”

“My ladies are coming. If they see I let you get all bloodied and broken, what does that say about me as a Dad?”

“Um, that you’re an awesome Dad who projects too much? Jamal, I’ll be fine. Got my baby weight on,” Eggsy patted his stomach muscles which seemed to have gained a fair enhancement like the rest of him. Jamal wasn’t smiling; Eggsy frowned. “What are you not telling me…”

“Merlin, Gal, and Percival are on their way, too. Tilly convinced them to close shop to watch your last fight.”

The locker door closed with a clang. “This ain’t my last fight, bruv. We talked about this.”

“You don’t know that. After the baby comes, you may not want to do this anymore. And that would be, y’know, great. But the guys didn’t want to miss seeing you in action.”

“And you’re worried they’re going to see me get my arse handed me.”

Jamal grimaced in a response that definitely wasn’t a dispute of Eggsy’s remark.

Eggsy just laughed at his unease. 

“Maybe you’ll get lucky,” Jamal said with more sincerity than a tease. “Maybe Gazelle will go into labor in the next hour or so and he’ll drop out.”

“Bruv.” Eggsy took Jamal’s face in his hands and smiled confidently, assuringly. “I got this.”

****~**~****

Names were announced and bells sounded off.

A heavy beat played in Eggsy’s right ear. He bounced to its sound on the balls of his feet. He kept the other ear bud out, dangling over his shoulder, sure his name would crackle over the small speaker of the locker room at any time. 

He shook out his arms and threw a few shadow punches, keeping his muscles warm for his round. 

Names were called; fighters stepped up. Charlie and Eggsy met eyes in the ring and nodded to the referee. There were cheers, the sound of blood rushing to Eggsy’s ears, and the world outside the ring fell into a dull hum of white noise.

Charlie bounced and bobbed, lunged and jabbed. Feints and counter-feints.

Eggsy relied heavily on technique, while Charlie seemed to zip around the ring quick enough it seemed a trick of the light. _Damn, he was fast._

Light on his feet, Charlie struck out wild and strong. When his fists connected in rapid succession, no parry was enough to get him off. He’d honed his reflexes, after months of his new instincts. 

Eggsy heard Charlie grunt around the mouth guard and saw the other alpha’s lips curl as they could in what might have been a smile.

An uppercut to Charlie’s chin then a series of jabs to the ribs, Eggsy briefly caught him in a corner. He thought of Merlin, thought of his pup, tried to channel the instinct that snapped into focus he perceived a threat to their safety. 

Heat clouded his vision for a moment, before everything became sharp. With new clarity, Eggsy set his eyes on Charlie, grit his teeth, sucked in a breath, and dug in.

****~**~****

“Oi!”

The call reverberated off the stone wall of the building as Eggsy shrugged on his coat and he cringed. Dean’s dogs weren’t the voices he needed be bothered with now, or ever. He turned to them with a tight-lipped smile. There was little chance they came to cheer him on tonight. There was even less of a chance they’d leave him alone after what had transpired in the ring.

“Happy to see us, are ya?” Rottweiler rubbed his hands together as if they posed a threat.

“Can’t chat long, boys.” Jamal and the others would be meeting soon. Eggsy was looking forward to dinner and to avoiding any further business with Dean’s buffoons. “Getting paid for fights these days. Not wasting breath on the likes of you.”

Poodle crossed his arms over his chest. 

_Did he not watch the match? How could he think he was an imposing figure anymore?_

“Dean says you’re out.”

“That’s what I told him,” Eggsy said, exasperated. He would have been more annoyed had it not been for catching sight of Harry and Percival rounding the corner and heading his way.

Poodle poked a stubby finger hard into Eggsy’s aching ribs to accentuate the finer points of his news. “Dean also says, if you’re out, rules don’t apply no more.”

Eggsy heaved a sigh, splitting his attention between Rottweiler, Poodle, and their approaching company. “Does he, now?” 

Harry nodded to Eggsy before coming to a stop at his side. “Good day, gentleman.”

Rotty cleared his throat, shifting weight from one foot to the other. “Hey.”

Poodle wasn’t so easily intimidated. “Who’s this gitty old pirate?”

“My name is Harry Hart. This is my partner Michael.” Harry stood board straight, his hands at casual rest atop the hook of his umbrella. “And to whom do I have the pleasure of making an acquaintance?” Harry lifted a hand in greeting.

Poodle sneered at the proffered hand before batting it away. “Our names ain’t none of your bloody business, codger. Sod off.”

“Hmm.” Percival looked downright contemplative.

Harry frowned, almost disappointed. But as he lifted the eyebrow of the eye he had left, the letdown seemed replaced with amusement.

Eggsy followed Harry’s gaze and saw Percival step forward, filling the space in front of and between Rotty and Poodle. 

“Manners, boys,” Percival said, his voice cool. 

Rottweiler and Poodle cringed and cried out, their bodies twisted and faces contorted in agony. Eggsy pulled a face, confused, until he looked down to find Percival had a grip on their thumbs.

“When a man offers his hand in goodwill,” Percival continued, “it really is best to take it.” 

Rottweiler and Poodle clawed at Percival’s arms. Their thumbs bent unnaturally as they were brought to their knees. 

A hint of a smile shone in Percival’s eyes. “One can never know what fortunes the next hand extended will bring.” 

The way tears streamed down the men’s faces, Eggsy was sure Percival was going to break bone, if he hadn’t already. 

“That’s quite enough, darling,” Harry said softly. “I think-” Harry prodded Rottweiler with the tip of his umbrella- “they get the point.” He jabbed at Poodle as well before turning his good eye to friends. “The others are eager to congratulate you.”

“I didn’t win.” Eggsy had put up a good show; he would give himself that much credit. Nonetheless, Charlie’s experience and practice had him outmatched. _Fucking sucked._ But, like Eggsy had told Jamal, he had no plans for this to be his last fight.

“Sure you did.”

“Were you not watching the same fight?” Eggsy asked as his stepfather’s goons scrambled away. “I was there. Charlie got me fair.”

Percival clasped Eggsy’s shoulder. The delicate touch gave away no hint of the strength Eggsy had just witnessed. “Can you not think of anything worth celebrating?”

Eggsy could. Merlin, their pup, old friends and new ones, steady work - it all felt like a taste of victory. He felt around in his pocket for the circle of metal that at once felt heavy and light. Eggsy smiled.

****~**~****

The little Italian restaurant served them well, a warm atmosphere for quiet festivity and good food to satisfy their appetites.

While the others waited on espresso and dessert, Eggsy and Merlin slipped away for some fresh air and privacy. 

A light rain tapped the canopy overhead and Eggsy frowned. He should have known the clear skies wouldn’t last long. 

Merlin wasn’t fazed in the least. “Nicked Harry’s umbrella.” 

“Careful. That man wields the thing like a weapon.”

Merlin’s laugh was deep and light. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’ll take you on your word.” The umbrella swung absentmindedly at his side as rivulets of rain trickled off the canopy.

Eggsy caught Merlin staring and reached out to steady his hand. “How are you?”

“Better now.” With an apologetic twist on a smile, Merlin admitted, “Today was difficult to watch.”

“You hate the fighting.” Though he and Charlie had been well matched, Eggsy’s previous weeks of lingering injuries and time spend in recovery (instead of in the ring) put him at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, it was enough to get him another lovely second place prize purse. 

“I won’t tell you to stop.”

Eggsy drew his hand out from his pocket with a blush and an earnest, “Thank you.”

“I _will_ ask what Jamal meant when he said it was your last fight.”

“I’m taking a job offer with a custodial contract. Working at the hospital. And I’ll keep work at the gym for free membership and to keep an eye on the competition. But, until our baby’s here, I promised myself I wouldn’t fight. I want to take care of you in the ways I can.” 

Eggsy caressed Merlin’s wrist with his thumb, until it came to rest on his pulsepoint. “That means being around, yeah? Training takes up too much of my time and energy. You’ve seen what it’s like when I’m hurt… What I’m trying to say is, I made a promise to myself and now I want to make a promise to you-”

“You think that with a baby you’ll have more time to devote to fighting?”

“Not exactly. That’s not what I meant. I think that-” Eggsy heaved a sigh. “-I’m trying to figure things out. And I like fighting. I’m good at it. I’m not the best,” he started to ramble, “but maybe if Michael comes to the gym with me-”

“Michael?”

“Yeah, he did this thing where-”

“The pressure point.” Merlin rolled his eyes. “Oh, Eggsy, that’s akin to an old parlour trick. He cannae throw a real punch.”

Eggsy drew his eyebrows together into a deep v of scepticism. “I think you vastly underestimate your friends.”

With pursed lips and a slight shake of his head, Merlin scoffed. “I’ve known them an awfully long time, Eggsy.”

“Give ya that, but you’re not really great at seeing what’s right in front of you, yeah?”

Shock was written on Merlin’s face. “I resent that.”

“I’m not wrong.”

“Really?” 

“Truly so.”

Eggsy’s insistence nagged at Merlin’s curiosity. “And what did I miss this time?”

“I been trying to make you a promise.” Eggsy held up the ring he’d had pinched between his fingers for the better half of their conversation. 

“Oh? Oh.”

“It’s not…” Eggsy stared down at the ring as it turned in his grip, gathering courage and words. “It’s a promise to be around for our kid. To support them and to love them, no matter what. And if, down the road, you want this to mean more, well, I think that’s a promise I’d like to make to you too.”

Merlin took the ring and its promises, with a kiss.


End file.
